iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- A body has been found in Maine as authorities continue searching for a 47-year-old teacher whose husband reported her missing on Monday morning.

The body was found in a wooded area about 500 to 600 feet off Gray Road in North Yarmouth on Friday morning but has not been identified, Cumberland County Sheriff's Capt. Craig Smith said in a news conference Friday.

Smith would not disclose who found the body or what condition it was in. The medical examiner is on the scene, he said.

Jay Westra reported his wife, Kristin Westra, missing on Monday morning after waking up and discovering that she was not home, Cumberland County Sheriff's Capt. Scott Stewart said Tuesday.

Kristin Westra was last seen by her husband before he went to bed Sunday night, Stewart told ABC News.

Her brother, Eric Rohrbach, described the disappearance as "very abnormal," but said she had been under "some stress" because of work and home renovations. The mother to a 9-year-old daughter and 16-year-old stepson does not do drugs or alcohol, he added.

"The thought of her doing this to her family is completely out of the norm," Rohrbach said.

Kristin Westra had a full dinner after returning home Sunday night but had trouble falling asleep, Rohrbach said. Jay Westra assumed she was going to sleep in an empty room when she got up around 3 a.m., but when he woke up, he "realized she wasn't there," Rohrbach said.

When Jay Westra attempted to call her cell phone, it rang inside the house Rohrbach said. She did not have her keys or wallet on her.

It is unknown if Westra has a vehicle or "why she would be missing," according to a release from the sheriff's office.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.




Children paint Peking Opera masks during a fun activity hosted by Wanjun Community in Baotou, North Chinas Inner Mongolia autonomous region, Aug 30. The activity, which aimed to keep children occupied during the summer vacation, while stimulating their creativity and appreciation for traditional culture, invited teachers to introduce the various types of Peking Opera masks and the personality traits represented by the various colors and shapes of the masks. [Photo/Baotou Daily]

Children show off the masks they have made, Aug 30. [Photo/Baotou Evening News]




A mother hugs her daughter on Sept 3. The day marked the first day of school for the 2018-2019 semester in Baotou, North Chinas Inner Mongolia autonomous region. [Photo/Baotou Daily]

A parent accompanies her child to school on Sept 3. [Photo/Baotou Daily]

Baotou children return to school following the summer vacation, Sept 3. [Photo/Baotou Daily]




Crisis Phone Numberspecial noticeIf you are a veteran in emotional crisis and need help RIGHT NOW, call this toll-free number 1-800-273-8255, available 24/7, and tell them you are a veteran. All calls are confidential.1-888-899-9377A Crisis Intervention Hotline has been established by the VA Heartland Network to assist veterans who may be dealing with a mental health crisis or difficult issue in their lives. The hotline will also aid family members or friends of veterans who need help in assisting a veteran in crisis.
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.
(Performance by French artist/ Photo provided by the Organizing Board)



The festival aims to promote cooperation in arts and culture between Vietnam and other countries in the world. It is a chance for Vietnamese artists to introduce Vietnamese arts to international friends and exchange experience in arts activities.

The opening and closing ceremonies will take place at Au Co Performing Arts Center at Huynh Thuc Khang street, Ba Dinh, Hanoi.

The Organizing Board will select specific performances to make tours for people in northern provinces of Vinh Phuc and Ninh Binh./.
PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc (front line, fourth from left) and delegates at the event.



Addressing a conference to review the 30 years of foreign investment attraction in Vietnam held in Hanoi, the leader affirmed that the Government will continue with guidelines and policies on foreign investment.

The Government always supports investors, for mutual benefits and sustainable development, he said.

Your success in Vietnam is also our success and pride, he told the participating foreign investors.

The PM stressed that foreign investment always accompanies Vietnams Doi Moi (Reform) process, vividly manifests the countrys open-door policy and forms part of economic as well as international integration Vietnam is pursuing, contributing to raising its position in the international arena.

Over the past 30 years, foreign investment attraction has proven itself as a sound and successful policy of the Vietnamese Party and State, he said, noting that foreign-invested enterprises have become active members of the business community in Vietnam.

The leader, however, pointed out weak points in foreign investment such as the limited number of multi-national groups using high and source technologies, below-expectation coordination between domestic and foreign investment sectors, and environmental pollution caused by some projects.

PM Phuc said foreign investment cooperation has been expanded to management, connectivity, and merger and acquisition (M&A), with an emphasis on environmental protection, labourer protection and social interest guarantee.

Vietnam wants to promote the linkage between foreign-invested and domestic firms in order to develop the supporting industry and other industrial sectors with large scales and high-quality technologies and connected with regional and global value chains.

The country encourages foreign investment in high and environmentally friendly technologies, and attracts foreign projects that aim to approach the Fourth Industrial Revolution to create high added values, he said.

The FDI sector has become an important part of Vietnams economy, the PM stressed, urging ministries and agencies to ensure socio-political stability and to stabilise the macro economy, while stepping up infrastructure development and high-quality personnel training.

On this occasion, PM Phuc and Deputy PM Vuong Dinh Hue presented awards to groups, individuals and FDI firms in recognition of their contributions to national socio-economic development over the past time.

At the conference, the PM witnessed the signing of some investment cooperation documents and the hand-over of investment licences.

It was reported that as of August 20th, the country counted 26,500 valid FDI projects with the total registered capital reaching USD334 billion. Of the sum, about USD184 billion has been disbursed.

The FDI sector makes up nearly 20 percent to the national GDP, and 58 percent of foreign investment capital has been poured into the processing and manufacturing activities.

In 2017, the FDI sectors export turnover made up 72.6 percent of the countrys total. The sector has generated about 4 million jobs.

Domestic and foreign investors at the conference showed positive viewpoints on Vietnams attractive and open business environment, especially the countrys engagement in 12 bilateral and multilateral trade agreements with 56 partners in the world.

Nicolas Audier, Co-Chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam, said the new-generation FTAs, including the EU-Vietnam FTA, will create opportunities for Vietnam to develop further.

With a preferential investment environment, production cost competitiveness, rosy economic prospects, the development of the middle class, the increasing number of trained labourers and favourable geographical in Southeast Asia, Vietnam is an attractive destination for foreign investors, he said.

Tomaso Andreatta, Co-Chairman of the Vietnam Business Forum (VBF) Consortium, suggested relevant Vietnamese agencies set forth measures to keep investors in Vietnam and attract others with higher quality.

Vietnam should improve skills and knowledge of labourers so as to help them master automatic technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, multiply independent vocational training companies and reform the educational system, he said.

The conference brought together more than 3,500 representatives of ministries, agencies, localities, embassies, diplomatic corps, international organisations, associations and economic groups, experts, scientists and domestic and foreign investors./.
Former General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee Do Muoi (Source: VNA)



In a message to Secretary of the CPV Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and President Xi Jinping hailed Do Muoi as an outstanding leader of the Vietnamese Party and State, a close comrade and friend of the Chinese Party and people, who dedicated his life to the cause of renovation and socialism building in Vietnam and made important contributions to the ties between the two Parties and States.

He expressed his belief that under the firm leadership of the General Secretary, the CPV, Government and people of Vietnam will turn sorrow into power, continuing to reap new achievements in the cause of socialism building.

China pledges to unceasingly foster the China - Vietnam traditional friendship, deepen mutually-beneficial cooperation and promote the healthy and stable development of bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, he said.

Expressing profound condolences to the CPV Central Committee, the National Assembly, the Government and the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee; the Central Committee of the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party, National Assembly, Government and Central Committee of the Lao Front for National Construction spoke highly of Do Muois huge contributions to national liberation and development over his 80 years of revolutionary career.

The deceased was lauded for reinforcing great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, States and peoples.

For its part, the Central Committee of the Cambodian Peoples Party expressed wish that Do Muoi will rest in peace in a message to the CPV General Secretary.

Former General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee Do Muoi was born on February 2nd, 1917, in Dong My commune, Thanh Tri district, Hanoi. He passed away in Hanoi on October 1st at the age of 101 due to serious illness. He served as General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee from June 1991 to December 1997, and was presented with an insignia of 80-year Party membership.

Vietnam will hold two days of national mourning for him on October 6th and 7th./.
KABUL (Reuters), OCTOBER 5, 2018-Afghan officials have reacted angrily to speculation that foreign military contractors could take over training and advising the Afghan armed forces, following a renewed push by the founder of private military contractor Black-water.



Erik Prince, whose company came to prominence during the war in Iraq, has been lobbying officials about his proposal to privatise parts of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan for more than a year.



On a recent visit to Kabul, he lobbied several Afghan political figures and gave interviews to media outlets including Tolo News, Afghanistans largest television station, as well as the New York Times, to discuss the plan. President Ashraf Ghani, approaching presidential elections in April, has repeatedly rejected the proposal and on Thursday his national security adviser issued a statement condemning what he called a destructive and divisive debate. Under no circumstances will the Afghan government and people allow the counter terrorism fight to become a private, for-profit business, the statement said.



In August, U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis also rebuffed the idea, saying: When Americans put their nations credibility on the line, privatizing it is probably not a wise idea.
In celebration of World Childrens Day, Amana Bank will be hosting a Kids Carnival exclusively for the Banks Childrens Savings Account holders to enjoy a day filled with fun, games and laughter. Amana Bank Kids Carnival will take place on 13 October 2018 at Sathutu Uyana (Colombo 15) from 9.00am to 4.00pm, with many activities for the children to participate in.

Every child attending the Kids Carnival along with their parents or guardians would be entitled for free rides which includes jet ride, dodgem car, twister, air swing, pirate ship, lady bird ride, cup and saucer ride, bouncer castle and many more. Further the Bank has organized many fun games where everyone can participate and win gifts.Due to limited registrations, parents interested in having their kids attend the Carnival, must pre-register by calling the Banks hotline 011 7 756 756.

Commenting on the Kids Carnival, the Bank's Vice President Retail Banking and Marketing Siddeeque Akbar said We are happy to host this Kids Carnival for the benefit of the smart children who are engaged in the discipline of saving and their parents who are doing the best to secure a bright future for their kids.

Amana Bank Childrens Savings Account is an ideal platform to nurture ones Child on the habit of savings from an early age, while offering many rewards including the popular Grow Your Balance promotion, where the child can walk away with five different gift items for growing their accountfrom Rs. 5,000/- to Rs. 100,000/-. Further, to celebrate the occasion of a new born and help establish a sound financial foundation for them from an early age, the Bank is gifting each new born child a Childrens Savings Account with a pre-loaded balance of Rs.500/-.
The Chinese Government did not get Sri Lanka into a debt trap by lending money to it, Sri Lankan Ambassador to China Karunasena Kodituwakku has said.

If anybody is saying that the Chinese government lent money to us to put Sri Lanka into a debt trap, I don't agree with that statement. It's an absolutely wrong conclusion, Kodituwakku told CGTN's "The Point".

He said the Chinese government assisted Sri Lanka to build the Hambantota project and that it was up to the Government of Sri Lanka to decide whether to build on the basis of feasibility studies, then to make business decisions.

"Of course, we have difficulties in paying back the loan, however the Chinese government never asked us to hand the Port over to them or to the Chinese venture in question. It was a proposal that came from Sri Lanka, asking to enter into a partnership with China, he added.

As a response to media concerns that China is militarising the Port, Kodituwakku pointed out that "in Sri Lanka's case from the very beginning we very clearly indicated to the Chinese side that it was only an economic venture."

He said Sri Lanka does not allow anybody to interfere with the security of Sri Lanka.We took a decision to shift a naval base to Hambantota Port in July, Kodituwakku explained, adding The security of the Hambantota Port, the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean, is entirely a matter for the Sri Lankan security forces to worry about. China never asks us to compromise on this aspect."

Kodituwakku said he remains optimistic over the long-term prospects of the Port and the future of Sri Lanka's role in an emerging Asia.
Minister Bathiudeen addressing the press briefing on the forthcoming 7th UNESCO-APEID Meeting on Entrepreneurship Education. Also present are UNESCO Bangkok Focal Point in Colombo Himali Jinadasa (left) and Chairman and Director General of NEDA Dakshitha Bogollagama (right) at the Industry and Commerce Ministry

Despite playing a huge role in the countrys economy, Sri Lankan entrepreneurs and SMEs are struggling to advance their business capacities due to lack of skills and relevant business education.



An international, multi-stakeholder meeting on entrepreneur education to be held next week in Sri Lanka is expected to address this core challenge.



Only 16 percent of students in our education system enter the university. Therefore the government is fostering an Entrepreneurship and SME culture for our youth. We believe that SMEs are more than 70 percent of the total number of enterprises in the economy providing 45 percent of the employment and contributing to 52 percent of the Gross Domestic Production (GDP).



Despite these sectors acting as the growth driver of our GDP and are playing a very important role in employment and labour force, we find very few opportunities for them to develop their education and capacities. UN supported events such as the seventh UNESCO-APEID meeting on entrepreneur education that we are announcing can open many new doors of opportunities for our SMEs and entrepreneurs who are keen to link with exports and the global marketplace, said Industry and Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiudeen this week in Colombo.



Minister Bathiudeen was addressing the press launch of the forthcoming 7th UNESCO-APEID Meeting on Entrepreneurship Education in Trincomalee, that will commence on 9 October at Trinco Blu. A leading entrepreneur education series in Asia Pacific, this is the first time that the UNESCO-APEID meeting held in South Asia and convened by UNESCO Bangkok. The milestone event is led for the region by Sri Lankas apex entrepreneur and SME business development agency, National Enterprise Development Agency (NEDA). The previous (sixth) session was held in October 2017 in Manila, Philippines. UNESCO-APEID entrepreneurship education series calls multi-stakeholder support from government, education institutions, academia, private sector, international organizations and the students themselves and supports consolidating the network for entrepreneurship education among stakeholders. The first and the second sessions in this series were held in Hangzhou, China (in June 2012 and March 2013).

Thereafter, the series continued to Kuala Lumpur (December 2013), Bangkok (two sessions-February 2015 and October 2015), Jakarta and Bandung (September 2016), sixth session in Manila (October 2017), leading to the forthcoming seventh session in Trincomalee. The specific objectives of the Trincomalee meeting are to identify various models of multi-stakeholder engagement in entrepreneurship education, share good practices of such in primary, secondary, tertiary and non-formal education, showcase selected enterprises, and discuss potential areas of joint activities to enhance multi-stakeholder engagement in entrepreneurship education.

Chairman of NEDA Dakshitha Bogollagama stressed that NEDA is proud to partner in this pioneering venture with UNESCO. More than 200 local and foreign entrepreneurs, small business participants, policy makers, educators, and youth representatives from 21 countries are scheduled to join the 7th UNESCO-APEID Meeting on Entrepreneurship Education themed Leveraging Multi-Stakeholder Engagement to Nurture Future Entrepreneurs. UNESCO-APEID is an honour for Sri Lankas SMEs.



Sri Lankas newest economic strategy for its entrepreneurs Enterprise Sri Lanka encourages young and educated entrepreneurs, which the pioneering UNESCO-APEID session expects to fulfil. NEDA is Sri Lankas apex entrepreneur development agency, aims to stimulate the growth, expansion and development of SMEs and encourages the establishment and operation outside Sri Lanka of enterprises designed with a view to internationalize domestic enterprises capable of penetrating foreign markets.
On this day ten years ago, our parents were taken from this world alongside thirty other innocent civilians in the city of Anuradhapura in a senseless violent suicide bombing. There were no warnings and no goodbyes. While it was the worst day for us in our lives, dwelling on that act does not take away the pain inflicted in the minds of the families of all those who are no longer here, including us.



As such, instead of giving that horrible act prominence, we choose to remember our parents, Maj. Gen. Janaka Perera and Mrs. Wajira Perera -- to us, Ammi and Thaththi -- who were larger than life itself. They were both such vibrant and positive contributors to the world in general and Sri Lanka in particular. The world is certainly a bleaker place for their loss.

Ammi was no less a patriot and had the same sense of strength of character and honour as Thaththi

Our parents were true patriots, dedicated to the betterment of Sri Lanka. Our father was not only held in high esteem publicly, he was adored by us at home. Most people only saw his public persona of duty, decency, reliability, honour, dignity and respect. They were not lucky enough to see the funny, relaxed and playful father and husband he was to us and to our mother. He never resisted the opportunity to have a laugh with friends and loved ones, given half the chance. His generosity was only second to our mothers. While we are proud of all his achievements in life, we truly miss this amazing man who taught us to stand up for what we believe in and always be proud of who you are.



He was a decorated military man, proud of his over 40 years of service to Sri Lanka, first in the military, then later in life, through his diplomatic and brief political career. Thaththi was considered one of the most distinguished army generals in Sri Lankan history. After retiring from the army, be served as the Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia and thereafter as Ambassador to Indonesia. He was later elected as the leader of the opposition of the North Central Provincial Council, during a brief political career, which was cut short by an act of terror. He received many commendations for his exemplary military career and his significant roles in suppressing the JVP insurrection in his early career, to the many roles he played in combating the LTTE terror during the most difficult periods of the Sri Lankan civil war. He had the unique distinction of being the Colonel Commandant of the then newly-established Commando Regiment, the Special Forces Regiment and the Corps of Sri Lanka Engineers.

Ammi was such a vibrant soul. One who literally lit up the room whenever she entered. She was so full of joy and love. She was as dedicated to Thaththi as he was to her

Among his commendations were the awards for gallantry, Rana Wickrama Padakkama and Rana Sura Padakkama, distinguished service medals, the Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya, long service medals, Uttama Seva Padakkama, Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal, foreign service medal, Videsha Seva Padakkama. combat service medals Purna Bhumi Padakkama, North and East Operations Medal, the campaign medals, Vadamarachchi Operation Medal and the Riviresa Campaign Services Medal as also, the Republic of Sri Lanka Armed Services and the Presidents Inauguration Medal. Although he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army, same year, he was subsequently bypassed for promotion as Army Commander, prompting his resignation in 2001, which led to his diplomatic and political careers. Thaththis military and diplomatic achievements would not have been possible without the love and support he received from our mother. Ammi was no less a patriot and had the same sense of strength of character and honour as Thaththi. She was one of the first six women officers to join the Sri Lanka Army Womens Corps in 1982 and she trained at the Womens Royal Army Corps College in England. While her military career was not as extensive as Thaththis, she was still able to pave the way for other young women to follow and join the military during those difficult times.

Our father was not only held in high esteem publicly, he was adored by us at home

Ammi was such a vibrant soul. One who literally lit up the room whenever she entered. She was so full of joy and love. She was as dedicated to Thaththi as he was to her. Being the wife of Maj. Gen. Janaka Perera, a public figure, was probably not very easy, but Ammi handled it with grace. We believe Ammi was the most beautiful woman to ever live, not because of her physical appearance, though she was strikingly-beautiful. It was her heart and her mind that were truly remarkable. She was generous, warm and loving to everyone she met, and made every person feel so special. We have so many memories of loving moments, hugs, kisses and laughter with Ammi at the centre of it, that its hard to pick a favourite time or moment. Anyone lucky enough to meet our mother was instantly drawn to her.



Ammi taught us to always be strong and to love without condition. She was the true heart of our family, making sure everyone was taken care of and the house ran quite smoothly with her guidance and leadership. Thaththi progressed up the ranks throughout his career, but Ammi was the Queen and Commander in Chief from the day she married him. They were a great team, always together and supporting each other. In the end, that is how they left this earth. Even though it was a suicide bomber who took them away from us, they were together in death, just as much as they were in their lives.

He received many commendations for his exemplary military career and his significant roles in suppressing the JVP insurrection

As we remember and commemorate their lives, our Ammi and Thaththi, the two souls whose lives were brought to an end too soon, but whose lives brought joy and fulfilment to many, let us remember their legacy and remember to love without condition and live without regret. That is the motto which they lived with, throughout their lives times!



We love you and miss you both, Ammi and Thaththi. Your loss to us is irreparable!

Janukshi Shehara and Ashanka
DPA, 04th OCTOBER, 2018- India deported seven Rohingya men to Myanmar on Thursday amid protest by human rights groups.

The handover took place hours after Indias Supreme Court rejected a plea by attorney Prashant Bhushan to let the seven men stay in India as they feared reprisals in Myanmar.



The men came from Myanmars Rakhine state, where the government launched a brutal military crackdown in August 2017.



The human rights situation in Myanmar has deteriorated completely. Returning them to Myanmar puts them at grave risk of serious human rights violations & violates customary international law, Amnesty International India tweeted.



Its unfortunate that SC [Supreme Court] has allowed the Govt to deport 7 Rohingya refugees to Myanmar despite all UN & International human rights organizations saying that Myanmar has committed genocide against Rohingyas, Bhushan said on Twitter.



He added that sending them back to Myanmar would make them liable to torture and murder.



The men were repatriated after reconfirming their willingness to return, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement. The identity of the men had been established with the assistance of the government of Myanmar, it added.
By

D.B.S. Jeyaraj

The perplexing political conduct of Sri Lankan President Pallewatte Gamaralalage Maithripala Yapa Sirisena has in recent times defied many norms and values of conventional politics.

The turns, twists and turnarounds of the President are unfathomable to many. So uncertain have been Maithripalas political moves and manoeuvres that the only certainty about Sirisena that anyone could be certain about is his uncertainty. He has been consistent in his inconsistency.



Many are his topsy-turvy contradictions and somersaults. A singular hallmark of his many pronouncements is the tendency to give warning in strong language of stern action being contemplated by him against those whom he perceives as evil-doers. He threatened to use his Sword

against corrupt elements. He wanted to re-introduce capital punishment against habitual sex offenders. After all the verbal fire and oral fury nothing ever happened. The people are kept in the dark about proposed presidential action. We do not know whether he drew blood or not. We dont know whether he twirled his sword or not. We dont know whether he has sheathed his sword or not. In fact we dont even know whether he ever drew his kaduwa as promised or not. The initial sounds of threatened action end in total silence. Not even the proverbial whimper after a bang. At the end of it all we are left wondering as to why he softened his earlier hard position or whether he ever did really have a hardened stance in the first place and whether all the heat he emitted was only make believe.



The latest in this long line of NATO (No Action Talk Only) examples is the Presidents declaration in Colombo of what he proposed to do at the 73rd United Nations General assembly meeting and what he actually delivered in New York. The hiatus between pledge and performance was vast indeed. President Sirisenas mighty roar in Colombo turned into a virtual pipsqueak in New York. How and why this transformation came about is an interestingly illuminating tale indeed.



President Sirisena publicly revealed the essence of what he proposed to do at the UN conclave at a meeting with Media heads and Editors at a meeting held in Colombo on September 14th 2018. Instead of relying on media reports about what transpired at the meeting I will quote from the official communique issued by the Presidential secretariat itself on what happened. Here are the relevant excerpts:



At the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly on September 25, President Maithripala Sirisena will announce a set of new proposals for consideration at the March 2019 session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR). He will also submit these proposals to the United nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres as well as Un High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet. The President expects to meet both of them during his New York visit, in two weeks time.



Addressing the Media Heads, newspaper editors and Heads of audio visual media institutions at the Presidents House in Colombo today (Sept 14), the President said that the proposals aimed at solving issues and providing relief without causing harm to the pride of the security forces and safeguard independence, sovereignty and national security. Furthermore these proposals would facilitate harmonious solutions to remaining issues with regard to the alleged acts of both sides during the conflict.



United Nations General Assembly

The President said that he would present the proposals to the UN General Assembly on September 25 and also intended to hand it over in writing to the new UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who he is expected to officially meet for the first time on the sidelines of the UNGA.

The above excerpts indicate clearly that President Sirisena was planning to unveil a set of new proposals for consideration at the United Nations General assembly in New York. He wanted the proposals to be discussed at the forthcoming March 2019 session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR). He also intended to submit those proposals to the United Nations Secretary - General Antonio Guterres as well as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet while in New York.The President emphasized that the proposals would facilitate harmonious solutions to remaining issues with regard to the alleged acts of both sides during the conflict.

There have been some instances where President Sirisena has been accused by members of the opposition of directly intervening and preventing or delaying the arrests of certain suspects



It has been patently discernible for quite some time that President Sirisena has been extremely concerned and somewhat agitated over the arrests, detentions and ongoing legal action against members of the armed forces over criminal offences allegedly committed outside the arena of war. Most of the alleged offences related to matters like assassination, abduction for ransom, abduction and torture that had nothing to do with the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). In some cases the victims were journalists.



There have been some instances where President Sirisena has been accused by members of the Opposition of directly intervening and preventing or delaying the arrests of certain suspects. In fairness to President Sirisena it must be said that he did not condone the alleged offenders. His objection apparently was to the manner adopted in arresting ,detaining and interrogating. Arresting and detaining security personnel for lengthy periods for the purpose of interrogation without filing indictments irked Maithripala. He was particularly annoyed over the anticipated arrest of former Navy chief and present Chief of Defence Staff , Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne,So perturbed has President Sirisena been of the wrongful manner in which members of the armed forces were being treated that he even held an emergency cabinet meeting on September 13th to discuss the issue.



Sinhala and Tamil Schools of Thought

Apart from his discomfiture over the arrests of defence services personnel, President Sirisena also faces political pressure from two different quarters on related matters. One type of pressure is from the Sinhala school of thought opposing the notion of legal action being taken against serving or former members of the armed forces over alleged human rights violations,war crimes or crimes against humanity. This school of thought propagates the viewpoint that all service personnel or ex-service personnel who fought in the war against the LTTE are War Heroes above reproach possessing a special kind of immunity. Besides the policy adopted officially during the war was zero civilian casualties. Former president Mahinda Rajapaksa went on record saying our soldiers fought with a weapon as in one hand and the UN Human Rights charter in the other with hearts full of love and food on the backs for the people. In that context this school of thought opines that no violations or crimes took place and the Govt has betrayed the armed forces by co-sponsoring the UN resolution of October 3oth 2015.



The second form of pressure is from the Tamil school of thought which re-iterates the demand for accountability and the need to investigate allegations of human rights violations,war crimes and crimes against humanity. In order to have credibility of being just and fair, the judicial processes must have international participation. This school of thought feels true reconciliation is possible only if such alleged offences are genuinely probed and justice is done. At the same time in what appears to be an ironic contradiction , the Tamil school of thought wants all Tamils convicted or undergoing trial or being detained over violent acts or alleged offences to be released. The war ended nearly ten years ago and these incarcerated or detained persons should be released is their stance. The detenues themselves have been engaging in several protests for their release. Likewise family members and concerned citizens have also frequently demonstrated in support of their release.



In one more indication of the fractured state of the Sri Lankan nation this issue is viewed in opposite directions by significant sections on either side of the ethnic divide. To many Sinhalese the armed services are heroes and therefore must be treated as holy cows. But to many Tamils not all members of the armed services are war heroes. Some at least - if not all - have committed alleged war crimes and human rights violations. To many Tamils those convicted or being detained for allegedly committing acts of violence are all politicalprisoners who need to be released. But to many Sinhalese they are not political prisoners but terrorists who have committed or allegedly committed violent acts. There is significant backing for these viewpoints from the vociferous groups in both ethnicities. The rest of the people forming the Silent Majority within both the Sinhalese and Tamils remain silent but seem to sanction the respective viewpoints by their silence. Politicians on both sides assess the prevailing mood from different perspectives and exploit the issue to advance their different interests.



It is against this backdrop that President Sirisena in his wisdom had what he thought was a very good idea to satisfy both the Sinhala and Tamil schools of thought and also extricate the country from a tricky situation internationally. What he thought of was a grand amnesty to both sides that would absolve both the armed forces and LTTE from legal action or penalization in the future. He briefly referred to these ideas as a Mechanism he was envisaging at the emergency cabinet meeting on Sep 13th and instructed ministers to refrain from discussing it publicly. On the following days meeting with media heads and Editors the President revealed his plan to submit his new proposals to the UN during the course of his address to the UN General Assembly in New York on September 25th. He also said that he would incorporate these proposals in the form of a document and present them to both the UN Secretary -General and UN Human Rights Commissioner.

President Sirisena publicly revealed the essence of what he proposed to do at the UN conclave at a meeting with Media heads and Editors at a meeting held in Colombo on September 14th 2018



JHU Leader Champika Ranawaka

On the morning of September 16, Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) leader and minister of National Integration, Reconciliation and Official Languages, Mano Ganesan issued a special announcement in Tamil. In that Mano Ganesan said that Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) leader and minister of Megapolis and Western Development, Champika Ranawaka had had discussions with him about declaring a general amnesty for those who were still under detention for alleged offences committed during the war. Minister Mano said that he and minister Champika were engaged in a series of discussions about how to progress forward instead of languishing in the past and that this round of talks was part of that process.

Ganesan said that Ranawaka would make a public announcement later in the day and expressed cautious optimism about waiting to see what he would say. Mano Ganesan further said that if a consensus could be built around a general amnesty concept a cabinet paper could be prepared and presented.



JHU leader and Cabinet minister Champika Ranawaka held a press conference later on September 16th and announced his plan of declaring a general amnesty to members and ex-members of the armed forces and ex-members of the LTTE. The JHU outlined a five point plan in this regard.

The five areas of the scheme were

1.A classification/categorization of crimes by LTTE, military and para military groups currently in custody in terms of whether they were related to the conflict and whether they were in the pursuit of personal matters.



2. All military persons currently in custody in relation to war-related incidents should be give a general amnesty.



3.Similarly, the approximately 60 former LTTE cadres currently in custody should be released immediately on a general amnesty.



4. Charge immediately those who have been arrested on account of rape, abduction, murder etc.



5.Once all this is done, we should not return to this particular issue or aspect of the conflict.



It was proposed that the Government should appoint a committee comprising specialists under the aegis of the Attorney Generals Department, to identify differences between war crimes and the crimes committed for private motives, during the civil war. Ranawaka said the members of Tamil parties that helped the military should also be granted an amnesty under this.He further said that the consent of all the Tamil political parties should be secured in this regard.

In one more indication of the fractured state of the Sri Lankan nation this issue is viewed in opposite directions by significant sections on either side of the ethnic divide



When Champika Ranawaka came out with these suggestions regarding a general amnesty, there was much speculation in political circles that the JHU leader was being a mouthpiece of President Sirisena in this exercise. It was believed that a general amnesty to both sides was the basic framework of the mechanism President Sirisena was referring to in earlier meetings with ministers and media personnel. It was suspected that Champika Ranawaka was being used as a sounding board by Maithripala Sirisena to gauge the public mood and reception to this idea.



TNA Spokesman MA Sumanthiran

The JHU leader at the press conference had said that the consent of Tamil parties would be obtained for the 5 point plan but the response from the Tamil National Alliance(TNA) was negative. The premier political configuration of the Sri Lankan Tamils was opposed to the idea of equating the armed forces with ex-members of the LTTE. TNA spokesperson and Jaffna district parliamentarian M. A. Sumanthiran rejected the proposals outright. Sumanthiran pointed out in an interview with the Daily Mirror that Tamil political prisoners had been arrested and held up for long years as their cases were not over. They are being dragged on, he said. Sumanthiran said these prisoners had been arrested on forced confessions made by them and detained for a long time. He further stated the unidentified atrocities perpetrated by the military could not be equated with those of Tamil political prisoners. Sumanthiran suggested there should be a truth-seeking mechanism in place to trace the kind of crimes committed before considering any amnesty.



Meanwhile there was much concern and confusion in political and diplomatic circles about the what President Sirisena proposed to do at the UN in New York and how he would go about it. It was feared that the President would criticize the UN 30/1 resolution and call for it to be withdrawn or amended. Some were worried that he may announce Sri Lankas withdrawal from co-sponsorship unilaterally. Furthermore what President Sirisena envisaged seemed to be a complete U turn of what had been promised in his election manifesto as well as a partial reversal of what he had stated in his first address to the UN General Assembly in 2015. After all provision No 93 of President Sirisenas manifesto in the January 2015 election said that if elected, he would address issues of accountability through national independent judicial mechanisms. No Amnesty was proposed then



Moreover the proposal amounted to Sri Lanka backing out of what the country had committed itself to by co -sponsoring the US initiated resolution passed unanimously at the UNHRC in Geneva on October 30 2015. Any attempt to declare a general amnesty without adhering to the UN resolution amounted to Sri Lanka flouting its own co-sponsored resolution and not honouring its commitments. Besides the Sri Lankan Govt had committed itself fully to the UN resolution and co-sponsored it with the full knowledge and sanction of the head of Govt and state President Sirisena.



UN Resolution Key Provisions

Some of the key provisions (5 to 9) regarding Sri Lankas commitments are as follows -



5. Recognizes the need for a process of accountability and reconciliation for the violations and abuses committed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, as highlighted in the report of the Office of the High Commissioner on its investigation on Sri Lanka;



6. Welcomes the recognition by the Government of Sri Lanka that accountability is essential to uphold the rule of law and to build confidence in the people of all communities of Sri Lanka in the justice system, notes with appreciation the proposal of the Government of Sri Lanka to establish a judicial mechanism with a special counsel to investigate allegations of violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, as applicable; affirms that a credible justice process should include independent judicial and prosecutorial institutions led by individuals known for their integrity and impartiality; and also affirms in this regard the importance of participation in a Sri Lankan judicial mechanism, including the special counsels office, of Commonwealth and other foreign judges, defence lawyers and authorized prosecutors and investigators;



7. Encourages the Government of Sri Lanka to reform its domestic law to ensure that it can implement effectively its own commitments, the recommendations made in the report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission, as well as the recommendations of the report of the Office of the High Commissioner,1 including by allowing for, in a manner consistent with its international obligations, the trial and punishment of those most responsible for the full range of crimes under the general principles of law recognized by the community of nations relevant to violations and abuses of human rights and violations of international humanitarian law, including during the period covered by the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission;



8. Also encourages the Government of Sri Lanka to introduce effective security sector reforms as part of its transitional justice process, which will help to enhance the reputation and professionalism of the military and include ensuring that no scope exists for retention in or recruitment into the security forces of anyone credibly implicated through a fair administrative process in serious crimes involving human rights violations or abuses or violations of international humanitarian law, including members of the security and intelligence units; and also to increase training and incentives focused on the promotion and protection of human rights of all Sri Lankans;



9. Welcomes the recent passage by the Government of Sri Lanka of an updated witness and victim protection law and its commitment to review the law, and encourages the Government to strengthen these essential protections by making specific accommodations to protect effectively witnesses and victims, investigators, prosecutors and judges;

Procedural Difficulties at UN

President Sirisenas brainchild therefore was clearly going against the grain of the UN resolution co-sponsored by Sri Lanka regarding the need to probe alleged violations of International humanitarian law as well as alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. Besides there were procedural difficulties in what President Sirisena proposed to do. Placing his own proposals before the UN by President Sirisena was easier said than done.Our sister paper the Sunday Times touched upon this aspect in an article. Here are relevant excerpts  The same sources said that besides incorporating his (Sirisena) proposals in his UNGA address due during the high level segment on Tuesday (September 25), the President was earlier expected to submit a document to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on the same matter. Yet, the question remained whether the UNHRC is bound to accept that document for discussion.For all purposes, it was to come from a country which is named in the US resolution  i.e. Sri Lanka. Hence, it is up to Sri Lankas representative, if indeed there were any proposals, to present the governments position for discussion at UNHRC session, said a Colombo-based diplomat who did not wish to be identified. There are no precedents in the Council for a head of state or government to present an overriding position before the Council on a resolution that has been adopted (unanimously) by member nations, the diplomat said.



Thus it could be seen that President Sirisenas well -intentioned plan to resolve a prickly issue was likely to create more problem rather than provide solutions. There was trepidation that the president would lash out at the UN openly and call for the removal of some provisions in the UN resolution. There was a fear that he would announce a unilateral withdrawal of co-sponsorship of the UN resolution by Sri Lanka. Events however began over taking.



The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) instead of reacting passively to the presidents unorthodox moves adopted a proactive stance. The TNA faces political difficulties within its support base due to its perceived affinity towards the Sirisena--Wickremesinghe Goernment. The TNA lost more than 40% of the votes it garnered at the 2015 August Parliamentary elections at the recent Local Authority elections in February 2018. The TNA may face further problems if rival political parties form a common front with controversial Northern chief minister CV Wigneswaran spearheading it at a future poll. If President Sirisena went through with his U turn at the UN, that would be detrimental to the TNA. Wigneswaran and other hawkish cohorts could exploit it to their advantage if and when Provincial elections are held.



TNA Diplomatic Counter Offensive

Thus the TNA without any fanfare or fuss began interacting with diplomats from Western nations in Colombo and also with officials in charge of Sri Lankan affairs in their respective countries. The TNA also interacted with UN officials. In addition to this diplomatic counter offensive, the TNA also communicated with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on the issue and explained they would have to change their political stance if President Sirisena went ahead with his plans. The TNA would have no choice other than to adopt a confrontational course with the Govt. This would mean voting against the Govt on the Budget. It must be noted that the TNA has voted for the budget ever since the coalition Govt assumed office and has been criticized by many for it. Furthermore with rumours circulating about political moves being undertaken by the Mahinda Rajapaksa camp to defeat the Govt during budget vote this year, the role of the TNA could prove crucial if large -scale defections from Govt ranks are engineered.



Under these circumstances a high -powered diplomatic delegation comprising representatives from Europe and North America met with President Sirisena and briefed him in detail about the ramifications and implications of what he proposed to do. They impressed upon him that the salient provisions of the UN resolution initiated by the US and co-sponsored by Sri Lanka would be negated if the president went ahead with his plans. If that happened Sri Lanka would be viewed as having flouted the UN resolution co-sponsored by it. This could have many repercussions including a review of GSP plus concessions. Notwithstanding the Donald Trump presidency, the US may respond strongly. It may also result in very harsh measures being mooted against Lanka at the UNHRC next year.Therefore President Sirisena was respectfully urged to re-consider his position.



On another level Prime Minister Wickremesinghe had an unpublicized meeting with President Sirisena where this issue was discussed in full. Despite the prevailing differences of opinion between the President and Premier on many counts both Maithripala and Ranil held frank and cordial talks on the matter, President Sirisena listened attentively to what the Prime Minister said. Although he gave no word about what he proposed to do, it appeared that the president had now realized the potential fall-out of his contemplated action and was having second thoughts.



Cabinet Minister Mano Ganesan

Meanwhile TPA leader and cabinet minister Mano Ganesan also began having second thoughts about accompanying the Presdent to the UN in New York. Though Ganesan was receptive to the idea mooted by Ranawaka about an amnesty for Tamil political prisoners the shrewed Colombo district MP realized the negative consequences of the UN resolution being flouted by the President in New York. Ganesan was reluctant to be a part of the Govt delegation in that context. Minister Ganesan met with Prime Minister Wickremesinghe and discussed the situation. The PM however urged the minister to proceed to New York and expressed confidence that the President would not rock the boat as feared. Ranil also told Mano that he was representing the Tamil community within the delegation and stressed upon the importance of going to New York. The PM suggested to the minister that he could discuss the matter further with the President enroute to the US.



President Sirisena departed from Sri Lanka on Sep 22nd to attend the 73rd session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York. The theme of the 73rd UNGA was Making the United Nations Relevant to All People: Global Leadership and Shared Responsibilities for Peaceful, Equitable and Sustainable Societies. President Sirisena who had attended the UNGAs of 2015, 2016 &2017 was going for the 4th consecutive time to the UN in New York. Among those who accompanied President Sirisena were Cabinet ministers Rajitha Senaratne, Tilak Marapane, Champika Ranawaka, Mano Ganesan, Central Province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake, State Minister Palitha Range Bandara and UNP parliamentarian S.M. Marikkar.



During the flight between Doha and NY, ministers Rajitha Senaratne and Mano Ganesan spent a lot of time talking with the President. One of the topics they delved into in detail was President Sirisenas plan to submit new proposals to the UN. Both ministers urged caution and restraint. Sirisena did not commit himself either way to both and kept playing his cards close to his chest. Although the president kept mum, saner counsel had prevailed even before he had embarked on the flight. After the talks with the diplomats and Prime Minister, the President had communicated with a few trusted, knowledgeable persons and discussed the issue further. Thereafter President Sirisena decided to abandon his objective of announcing an amnesty as a reconciliation mechanism at the UNGA in New York. The necessary changes were made in the text of his address. The documents prepared to be given to the UN Sec-Gen and UN Human Rights chief became redundant.



President Sirisena Issues Clarion Call

President Maithripala Sirisena addressed the UN General assembly on Sep 25th(Sep 26th morning Sri Lanka time). There was no mention of a new set of proposals for the consideration of the UN in his speech.There were no references to a general amnesty for members of the armed forces and Ex-LTTE members either. Expected crackers at the UN had become damp squibs. There was no bang. The anticipated roar had turned into a virtual bleat.



However President Sirisena did issue a clarion call to the International community in his speech. He called upon the international community to look at Sri Lanka with a fresh perspective and consider the tremendous progress made by the government towards reconciliation, restoration of democratic freedoms, human rights and the rule of law and extend the fullest support to the build a progressive, democratic, free and equal society. President Sirisena said, Sri Lanka is taking action to consolidate peace and forge ahead to develop the economy, and such a nation deserves the support and understanding of the international community. I urge the international community to allow Sri Lankan people to solve their problems on their own. As an independent country we do not want any foreign power to exert influence on us. We want to appeal to the international community to give us the room to resolve the problems that we are facing so that the right of the Sri Lankan people to find solutions to their problems is respected said President Sirisena.



After the UN speech was concluded, President Sirisena met with the cabinet ministers who went along with him to New York. He placed his arm around Mano Ganesans shoulder and asked him in Sinhala Minister Mano Ganesan, Nothing controversial in my speech no? You are satisfied now?. Mano Ganesan concurred with the president and then quipped in Sinhala  Mr. President, you wanted the international community to look upon Sri Lanka with a fresh perspective. But you did not say what the new perspective should be. Please explain about the new perspective after we return to Sri Lanka amidst laughter all round. When the news of President Sirisenas speech became known in Sri Lanka there was much relief in political and diplomatic circles.



Later Mano Ganesan was to post this exchange on his Facebook. More importantly he stated in Tamil Unmayil Janaadhipathy Aatra Vantha Urai Ithuvalla. Aanaal Iruthi Thinangalil Urai vadivam Maatrappattathu. Athu Eppadi, Aen endra vibarangalai pahirangamaaha Solla mudiyaathu. Sonnaalum Palarukkup Puriyaathu. (Actually this was not the speech that the President intended delivering first. The text of the speech was changed in the final days. I am unable to relate in public how or why this happened. Even if I do so many people wont be able to understand)



Leonine Roar Became Caprine Bleat

This then is the story of President Sirisenas plan for a general amnesty to the armed forces and LTTE as part of a mechanism to bring about reconciliation without foreign interference. Though he indicated in Sri Lanka that he would reveal details in his address to the UN General assembly that did not happen. The anticipated leonine roar became a caprine bleat. Whatever his intentions, it became clear through his actions, that it is not so easy to change positions on matters where solemn commitments have been made to the international community. Sri Lanka crossed the rubicon when it co-sponsored the US initiated US resolution in the UNHRC on October 30, 2015. This is the stark reality that cannot be lost sight of.



D.B.S.Jeyaraj can be reached at dbsjeyaraj@yahoo.com
Tourist arrivals grew only 2.8 percent to 149, 087 in September, the lowest growth recorded so far this year, amid a sizeable drop in tourists from Middle East, the data released by the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA) showed.



Asia Pacific continued to be the largest source of tourist traffic to Sri Lanka with 47 percent of the total traffic during September. Europe accounted for 43 percent, America 6 percent, Middle East 3 percent and Africa 1 percent.



However, arrivals from the Asia Pacific fell 3.2 percent year-on-year (YoY) to 81, 114 and India as the single largest source market in September accounted for 32, 300 tourists, down 6.3 percent YoY.



Arrivals from China, the second largest source market rose 3.5 percent YoY to 19, 600 in September.



Tourist arrivals from Europe rose 18. 4 percent YoY to 55, 176 and United Kingdom being the third largest source market accounted for 14, 226 tourists, up 13 percent.



The number of German tourists who visited Sri Lanka in September also rose 12.8 percent YoY 9, 668.

Tourist arrivals from the Middle East fell 53.3 percent YoY to 3, 386, with only Iraq registering a positive growth YoY basis.



The cumulative tourist arrivals in the first nine months of the year were little over 1.73 million.



The Tourism Minister is hopeful that Sri Lanka could attract 3 million tourists this year. According to Central Bank data tourism industry earned US$ 2.16 billion during the first six months of the year.



Tourist arrivals in 2017 hit an all-time high of 2.11 million, which represented a 3.2 percent growth YoY. Tourism revenues rose by a similar percentage to an all-time peak of US$3.63 billion.



The government has set a US$ 4.5 billion earnings target for the industry this year.
The Editors Guild of India, Human Rights Watch and other civil society organizations have expressed concerns about the freedom of the media

To mark the 20th anniversary of the 1998 Colombo Declaration on Media Freedom and Social Responsibility, THE INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM unequivocally condemns the arrest and continued detention of Bangladeshi photographer Shahidul Alam, the issuing of a non-bailable arrest warrant to Pakistani journalist Cyril Almeida, the conviction of two Myanmar journalists, U Wa Lone and U Kyaw Soe Oo, and the enforced disappearance of Maldivian blogger Ahmed Rilwan.

Maldivian blogger Ahmed Rilwan



Cyril Almeida, who works at Dawn newspaper, is being hauled up for an interview with Nawaz Sharif, in which the former Prime Minister made remarks that were interpreted in India as a tacit admission that the Pakistan security establishment was behind the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. The warrant against Almeida is for a summons to appear before the Lahore High Court, which is hearing a case of treason against Sharif.

Across the region, journalists are being intimidated, harassed and arrested just for being journalists. The trend must not be left unchallenged. Freedom of the media is embedded in the concept of democratic freedoms

The 63-year-old Shahidul Alam, an internationally reputed photojournalist, was taken into custody on August 5 this year under the draconian Information Technology Act for damaging the image of the nation. He is alleged to have done this by giving an interview to Al Jazeera on the strike by students in Dhaka following a bus accident. There appears to be a deliberate attempt to keep him inside a jail, given the fact that at least twice his bail applications were the last item on the agenda  and was not taken up on two separate occasions.



The two Myanmar journalists, working for Reuters, were on trial for almost nine months in a case that even a police officer, testifying before the court, said was a set-up. At the time of their arrest, the two were working on an investigation that revealed that the Myanmar shot dead 10 Rohingya in cold blood at a village in northern Rakhine. Their conviction highlights the perilous conditions under which Myanmars journalists work.

Bangladeshi Photographer Shahidul Alam arrested



Ahmed Rilwan Abdulla, a popular Maldivian blogger, disappeared in 2014. President Yameen Abdulla, who just lost an election, showed no urgency in getting to the truth of the disappearance, and this has had a chilling effect on the media in Maldives.



The Editors Guild of India, Human Rights Watch and other civil society organizations have expressed concerns about the freedom of the media.

Across the region, journalists are being intimidated, harassed and arrested just for being journalists. The trend must not be left unchallenged. Freedom of the media is embedded in the concept of democratic freedoms. This Symposium demands the release of all journalists held under various pretexts across the region, and urges the governments to recommit themselves to media freedom as an inalienable part of democratic norms and values.

Pakistani journalist Cyril Almeida
(Left to right)- Hon. Karu Jayasuriya - Speaker of Parliament, His Excellency Taranjit Singh Sandhu - The Indian High Commissioner and Mr. NakulAnand  Chairman, WelcomHotels Lanka entering the venue

Launch of the uber-luxury apartments Sapphire Residences by ITC Hotels globally, coinciding with the commencement of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi. The launch programme will end with the high profile visit of the genius French Designer Philippe Starck to Colombo on 18th October 2018 who has designed the interiors of Sapphire Residences working through Yoo Inspired by Starck, London

To celebrate this momentous occasion, a one-of-a-kind musical extravaganza in Sri Lanka, supported by the High Commission of India, Colombo and in association with the Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival was organized on 2nd October, 2018 at the Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Theatre.

The concert featured world-renowned legendary violinist, Dr. L. Subramaniam, who collaborated on stage with the LiepajasSymphony Orchestra from Latvia, the largest orchestra ever to perform in Sri Lanka with over 60 musicians. The concert was an event in the international program of Latvias Centenary to promote Latvias cooperation with South East Asia in economics, education and culture.

The high-profile musical evening was attended by VVIPs, diplomats and dignitaries from Sri Lanka and India, and other eminent citizens and invitees.

The event was inaugurated by lighting of the lamp by theHon. Karu Jayasuriya - Speaker of Parliament, Her Excellency Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga - Former President of Sri Lanka, Professor Maithree Wickremasinghe, Hon. Dr.Wijayadasa Rajapaksa -Minister of Higher Education & Cultural Affairs, His Excellency Taranjit Singh Sandhu - The Indian High Commissioner, Mr. Nakul Anand  Chairman, Welcom Hotels Lanka, Mr. Arun Pathak - Managing Director, Welcom Hotels Lanka

Dr. L. Subramaniam and his granddaughter Mahati Subramaniam along with the Liepajas Symphony Orchestra

An extraordinary & captivating evening of music represented by Dr. Subramanians compositions ensued as Dr. L. Subramaniamand the Liepajas Symphony Orchestra performed in front of a packed house.

Dr. L.Subramaniam, Indias Violin icon, hasperformed/recorded Carnatic Classical Music, Western Classical Music, & also composed for & conducted Orchestras, scored for films,collaborated with all-time music greats like Yehudi Menuhin, Stephane Grappelli, Ruggiero Ricci, Herbie Hanckock, Joe Sample, Jean-Luc Ponty, Stanley Clarke, John Handy, George Harrison etc.

He has played with the New York Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Swiss Romande Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Berlin State Opera, Beijing Symphony Orchestra and the like. He is also the founder/director of the Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts (SaPa), a premier institute for musical education, and the Lakshminarayana Global Music Festival (LGMF), the biggest global music festival in India. He has received several awards and honours, including the coveted Padma Bhushan and Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for The Most Creative Artist from the President of India. The celebrated musician has a special bond with Sri Lanka, because his father, who was a great violinist himself, was based in Sri Lanka in the 1930s and is credited with evolving the South East Asian playing style by which the violin became a lead instrument instead of an accompanying instrument  global first.He himself has spent his early childhood in the island. He has a strong emotional bond with Sri Lanka and it is one of his personal dreams to find a violin recording of his father here.

The audience also had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to immerse themselves in the sounds of The Liepajas Symphony Orchestra, the oldest orchestra in the Baltic States. It was established in 1881 and became a national orchestra in 2010, performing across the globe and winning many awards globally. Led by its Art Director and Chief Conductor Gintaras Rinkevicius, the Philharmonic orchestra blended seamlessly with Dr Subramaniam treating the audience to rich divine music.

A facet of The Splendour of Gracious Living, thismusical extravaganza epitomisesthe exclusive lifestyle that Sapphire Residences by ITC Hotels has to offer.

Dr. L. Subramaniam felicitated by Speaker of Parliament Hon. Karu Jayasuriya

Sapphire Residencies and the adjacent ITC One hotel is the first development by luxury Indian hotelier ITC Hotels in Sri Lanka. Located on the prestigious Galle Face, the ceremonial heart of Sri Lankas capital, Sapphire Residencies is poised to redefine uber-luxury vertical residential living in the Indian Ocean region.

Scheduled for completion in 2021, the new US$400 million development comprises a majestic 224-metre tall residential tower - Sapphire Residences - which will be set alongside a 140-metre high - ITC One hotel. As a Mixed Use project, Sapphire Residencies will consist of 132 uber luxury apartments, elegant offices available for lease/rent, high-end retail space and other recreational and commercial amenities, becoming a hub for an eclecticlifestyle.

This development in Sri Lanka is being done by Welcom Hotels Lanka (Private) Limited, a 100% subsidiary of ITC limited, India. The Companys commitment to planet positive luxury experiences guarantees an outstanding luxury residential development with 5-star hospitality services created around its unwavering principles of Responsible Luxury and Enduring Value.

Prospective clients are invited tovisit Sapphire Residences Experience Centre at 21, Galle Face Centre Road, Colombo 1 which is now open. For further information,visit www.sapphireresidences.lk.

Mr. NakulAnand  Chairman of Welcom Hotels addessing the audience

A model of Sapphire Residences displayed at the event

Dr. L. Subramaniam performing for the audience

Hon. Karu Jayasuriya - Speaker of Parliament, His Excellency Taranjit Singh Sandhu - The Indian High Commissioner, Mr. NakulAnand  Chairman, Welcom Hotels Lanka and Mr. Arun Pathak - Managing Director, Welcom Hotels Lanka at the ceremonial lighting of the oil lamp
Foreign Ministrys spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang (Photo: VNA)



Foreign Ministrys spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang made the statement during a regular press briefing in Hanoi while responding to reporters questions regarding recent developments in the East Sea such as foreign countries live-fire drills and US naval ships navigation freedom activities.

Once again, we affirm Vietnams sovereignty over Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes, she declared.

As a member of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 and a coastal country in the East Sea, Vietnam always respects maritime and aviation freedom in the East Sea in line with the convention, she stressed.

At the press conference, the spokesperson also revealed a number of Vietnams external relations activities in the coming time./.
Hindustan Times (Srinagar), Oct 05, 2018-Unidentified gunmen killed two men in Kanikadal locality of Srinagars old city on Friday, three days before the first phase of local body elections in Kashmir, police said.



A senior police officer told the Hindustan Times two people were dead and that they are investigating the incident. The area has been cordoned off to track the attackers.



Local residents said gunmen shot at two civilians in Kanikadal and injured three people, who were referred to a hospital where two succumbed to their injuries.



The dead have been identified as Nazir Ahmad and Mushtaq Ahmad while Shakeel Ahmad has been injured.



They said both the dead men were affiliated to the National Conference. So far, NC has not confirmed whether the dead people were associated with the party. The Kashmir valley will go to polls on Monday in the first phase of the local body elections.
REUTERS, 04th OCTOBER, 2018-Britain and the Netherlands accused Russia of running a global campaign of cyber attacks to undermine democracies, including a thwarted attempt to hack into the U.N. chemical weapons watchdog while it was analyzing a Russian poison used to attack a spy.



In some of the strongest language used by the West since the Cold War, Britain said Russia was acting like a pariah state. The accusations were backed by other Western countries including the United States, which said Moscow must pay a price.



Russia denied what its Foreign Ministry spokeswoman called a diabolical perfume cocktail of allegations by someone with a rich imagination. But the accusations deepen Moscows isolation at a time when its diplomatic ties with the West have been downgraded over the poisoning of an ex-spy in England and it is under U.S. and EU sanctions over its actions in Ukraine. The British and Dutch accusations were unveiled as NATO defense ministers gathered in Brussels to present a united front to their Cold War-era foe.



This is not the actions of a great power, these are the actions of a pariah state, British Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson told reporters.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he agreed with the British and Dutch assessments. Russia must pay a price and a number of response options were available, he said.
UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) Head Erik Solheim, former peace envoy to Sri Lanka, has been accused by UN internal auditors of over spending for his travel.

According to Aftenposten News, auditors found that 4.1 million Norwegian kroner (USD 490,000) had been spent on travelling for 529 days during his first 22 months in office.

The UN internal auditors have requested Solheim pay back part of the money he has spent on his trips. Many of these trips were allegedly made without sufficient documentation from Mr. Solheim.

On two occasions, the 63 year old switched to a more expensive airline, incurring an additional cost of almost 60,000 NOK, according to the auditors.

The issue came to light when a draft report by the UNs Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) on the business travels of Erik Solheim and other senior UNEP staff was released.

The draft was presented to Solheim, who may now respond and put forward possible corrections. A new version will then be prepared at a later time. When the UNEP management responds again, the OIOS will publish the final report.

Solheim, who at the moment is participating in the climate summit in San Francisco, has not commented on the conclusions of the report, stating that it is just a draft document.

We have responded and refuted a number of mistakes in this draft document. Based on our response the auditors will present a new draft. After we have commented on this draft, they will conclude their final report, he said.

Meanwhile, a Norwegian source, well acquainted with the UN system, said the UNs internal oversight services rarely changed the factual information or important recommendations made in the first draft.
Unilever Sri Lanka together with the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) Sri Lanka and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) convened the second Annual Private-Public Partnership (PPP) Forum in Colombo recently.



The forum was held under the auspices of President Secretary Udaya Seneviratne.



As a direct result of last years forum, a policy paper for the promotion of PPP for sustainable development was produced and handed over to Seneviratne. Building on those achievements, this year the forum once again brought together C-suite executives from both the public and private sector, stakeholders from academia, media and non-government development agencies to encourage more collaborative and collective action towards the 2030 Development Agenda.



Unilever Sri Lanka Chairman Carl Cruz delivered the first keynote address of the evening. He provided the audience an update on Unilevers Sustainable Living Plan, the companys blueprint for sustainable equitable business, which is in its seventh year and stressed the need for collective action to foster sustainable development. He also spoke about how the company places sustainability at the core of its business model and works by following the simple philosophy of Doing Well by Doing Good.

UNDP Sri Lanka Country Director Jorn Sorensen addressed the importance of PPPs in achieving the SDGs for Sri Lanka. Whilst stressing UNDPs commitment towards sustainable development, he encouraged those gathered to partner with UNDP to support Sri Lanka in addressing a few areas of national development priority.



Seneviratne delivered the final keynote address of the day and commended those in attendance for taking up this cause and reiterated the need for mutually beneficial partnerships to address key country needs.



The keynotes were followed by a partnership discussion on four areas, which were identified by the Presidential Secretariat and UNDP. These areas are namely the conservation of threatened species and sustainable tourism, water management, community empowerment and chronic kidney disease prevention.



Projects in these specific areas are currently ongoing and the result of the discussions will help the UNDP and Presidential Secretariat identify suitable partners to help drive them further. Ultimately, this will help the projects scale for impact and widen the footprint of PPPs thereby steering the country towards a sustainable future.
US Vice President Mike Pence, sharpening U.S. criticism of Chinese policies around the globe, will give China a blunt warning on Thursday that the United States will not back down from what Washington sees as Chinese intimidation in the South China Sea.



Pence will deliver an 11 a.m. address at the Hudson Institute think tank in Washington likely to increase tensions between the United States and China beyond trade disputes that have dominated President Donald Trumps time in office.



In excerpts of his speech seen by Reuters, Pence will call attention to an incident in which a destroyer, the USS Decatur, traveled within 12 nautical miles of Gaven and Johnson Reefs in the Spratly Islands on Sunday.



Pence will say a Chinese naval vessel came within 45 yards of the USS Decatur as it conducted freedom-of-navigation operations in the South China Sea, forcing our ship to quickly maneuver to avoid collision.



Despite such reckless harassment, the United States Navy will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows and our national interests demand. We will not be intimidated. We will not stand down, Pence will say.



The operation was the latest attempt to counter what Washington sees as Beijings efforts to limit freedom of navigation in the strategic waters, where Chinese, Japanese and some Southeast Asian navies operate.



Chinas Defence Ministry said a Chinese naval ship had been sent to warn the U.S. vessel to leave and that Beijing had irrefutable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and the waters around them.



Pence will also accuse the Chinese Communist Party of convincing three Latin American nations to sever ties with Taiwan and recognize China.WASHINGTON (Reuters), OCTOBER 4, 2018
REUTERS, 04th OCTOBER, 2018-The World Court ordered the United States on Wednesday to ensure that sanctions against Iran, due to be tightened next month, do not affect humanitarian aid or civil aviation safety.



Judges at the International Court Of Justice (ICJ) handed a small victory to Tehran, which had argued that sanctions imposed since May by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump violate terms of a 1955 Treaty of Amity between the two countries.



But U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected the decision. He said the United Nations court, often called the World Court, had no jurisdiction over the sanctions, which Pompeo said were essential to U.S. security interests, and that Washington would terminate the little-known treaty with Iran.



This is a decision frankly that is 39 years overdue, Pompeo told a news conference. Iran is abusing the ICJ for political and propaganda purposes and their case, as you can see from the decision, lacked merit.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation(MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Tenn.) -- A desperate manhunt came to an end Friday morning as authorities announced the capture of a double murder suspect.



The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office announced Friday that Kirby Gene Wallace, 53, who was wanted for killing two people, was in custody.



"Wallace is in custody," the office tweeted.



The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation tweeted a photo showing Wallace in custody.



Wallace was wanted for allegedly killing a 63-year-old woman on Sept. 23, authorities said.



He's also wanted for allegedly shooting a man to death and stealing his truck in Montgomery County, according to The Tennessean.



He also held a woman in her 80s who was returning home from church at knifepoint, authorities said. He forced her into her home, where -- this time at gunpoint -- threatened her and tied her to her bed before fleeing in her vehicle, according to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office.



Authorities had offered a reward of $17,500 for information leading to his capture.



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Mr. Valery Yevdokimov, Head of Ukraines World Jurist Alliance (left) and Ambassador Nguyen Anh Tuan (Photo: VNA)

This is the most noble order of WJA for those who have contributed to promoting Ukraines development.

Ambassador Nguyen Anh Tuan said he was honored to receive the medal and thanked Mr. Valery Yevdokymovs sentiment for Vietnam in general and for him in particular. He also appreciated the contributions of Mr. Valery Yevdokymov and WJA in developing the relations between the two countries.

The ambassador hoped that relations between the embassy and the association would grow closer, and cooperate for peace, stability, equality and prosperity in the whole world, including Vietnam and Ukraine.

WJA, established in September 1990, gathers lawyers who have Ukrainian nationality, living and working both in Ukraine and abroad./.
It is not a bad thing for us, that the route known as the Goldene Strae or the Golden Road as we will get to know it- has escaped the attention of so many. It has been spared being overrun by hordes of tourists and as you will discover
Subscriber content preview

BOSTON (AP)  Authorities say at least 15 buildings in communities north of Boston that were damaged in gas explosions last month are uninhabitable.

The Eagle-Tribune reports the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency said Wednesday 19 other buildings in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover are suitable for restricted use, which means they need repairs. According to the agency, an additional 102 buildings sustained minor damage.





. . .
Subscriber content preview

By TRACEE M. HERBAUGH

Associated Press

Some questioned my sanity: I was taking young children on a vacation abroad, mostly alone.

It was just the three of us  my infant daughter, 6-year-old son and me. We'd board a plane in Boston, fly to London and then take a train to Paris. We'd meet my husband, who was there on business, and spend a few days before I returned home alone with the kids.





. . .
Country

United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
Blog Archive June 2021 (1) May 2021 (77) April 2021 (77) March 2021 (82) February 2021 (68) January 2021 (64) December 2020 (67) November 2020 (66) October 2020 (66) September 2020 (67) August 2020 (74) July 2020 (83) June 2020 (92) May 2020 (86) April 2020 (104) March 2020 (105) February 2020 (74) January 2020 (75) December 2019 (75) November 2019 (70) October 2019 (89) September 2019 (69) August 2019 (81) July 2019 (77) June 2019 (73) May 2019 (110) April 2019 (110) March 2019 (102) February 2019 (85) January 2019 (123) December 2018 (116) November 2018 (112) October 2018 (121) September 2018 (107) August 2018 (150) July 2018 (163) June 2018 (190) May 2018 (145) April 2018 (112) March 2018 (124) February 2018 (113) January 2018 (164) December 2017 (150) November 2017 (144) October 2017 (169) September 2017 (171) August 2017 (135) July 2017 (131) June 2017 (147) May 2017 (160) April 2017 (138) March 2017 (156) February 2017 (143) January 2017 (203) December 2016 (208) November 2016 (185) October 2016 (173) September 2016 (194) August 2016 (232) July 2016 (225) June 2016 (238) May 2016 (231) April 2016 (215) March 2016 (246) February 2016 (226) January 2016 (252) December 2015 (230) November 2015 (250) October 2015 (234) September 2015 (222) August 2015 (253) July 2015 (275) June 2015 (279) May 2015 (223) April 2015 (226) March 2015 (243) February 2015 (258) January 2015 (281) December 2014 (292) November 2014 (296) October 2014 (413) September 2014 (472) August 2014 (506) July 2014 (483) June 2014 (488) May 2014 (512) April 2014 (497) March 2014 (531) February 2014 (482) January 2014 (535) December 2013 (482) November 2013 (441) October 2013 (416) September 2013 (491) August 2013 (521) July 2013 (491) June 2013 (470) May 2013 (457) April 2013 (426) March 2013 (420) February 2013 (414) January 2013 (489) December 2012 (433) November 2012 (504) October 2012 (469) September 2012 (430) August 2012 (427) July 2012 (360) June 2012 (336) May 2012 (362) April 2012 (322) March 2012 (263) February 2012 (224) January 2012 (291) December 2011 (295) November 2011 (325) October 2011 (330) September 2011 (319) August 2011 (333) July 2011 (318) June 2011 (387) May 2011 (373) April 2011 (389) March 2011 (375) February 2011 (335) January 2011 (400) December 2010 (445) November 2010 (395) October 2010 (312) September 2010 (262) August 2010 (277) July 2010 (323) June 2010 (386) May 2010 (360) April 2010 (333) March 2010 (351) February 2010 (336) January 2010 (384) December 2009 (353) November 2009 (300) October 2009 (308) September 2009 (350) August 2009 (298) July 2009 (255) June 2009 (203) May 2009 (193) April 2009 (186) March 2009 (197) February 2009 (173) January 2009 (148) December 2008 (181) November 2008 (197) October 2008 (236) September 2008 (304) August 2008 (314) July 2008 (273) June 2008 (27) May 2008 (1) April 2008 (6) October 2007 (1) May 2007 (1) April 2007 (6) March 2007 (2) February 2007 (1) October 2006 (1) September 2006 (1) August 2006 (4) July 2006 (4) June 2006 (1) July 2005 (1) May 2005 (2) March 2005 (1) June 2004 (2) May 2004 (1) April 2004 (4) March 2004 (2) February 2004 (2) July 2003 (2) June 2003 (5)
Anti-government demonstrations in Austria

More than 20.000 people took to the streets of Austrias capital to protest against the policies of center-right Austrian People's Party and extreme right-winger Freedom Party of Austria.

Austrian Primer Minister Sebastian Kurz and Interior Minister Herbert Kickl are in the line of fire.

"RESIGN"

The people meet before the seat of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, whose conservative OVP has been working with the right populist FPO since December. 20.000 demonstrators gathered in front of the government house holding banners with slogans in German, including "Now were together", "Do not let Nazis rule", "No to FPO-OVP" and "Resign".

The participants showed against racism and welfare and warned against the demolition of democracy in Austria, which currently holds the EU presidency. Minister Herbert Kickl has attracted the most discontent, among other things, as a result of an attempt to reduce the press freedom in criticism.
President Erdogan: UN in need of 'serious reform'

Turkish President Erdogan speaks at closing of TRT World Forum in Istanbul and made important statements about UN.

Turkey's president on Thursday called for serious reform of the United Nations Security Council, which he said should have representation from countries on all the world's continents.

Speaking at the closing session of the TRT World Forum in Istanbul, which Anadolu Agency is global communication partner for, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said: We need to achieve a United Nations Security Council with participation from seven continents.





"THE WORLD IS BIGGER THAN FIVE"

The Turkish president has long advocated reforming the structure of the Security Council, using the motto: "The world is bigger than five." The era of five permanent members [on the UNSC] is over," he said, arguing that the present arrangement comes from "the circumstances of World War II." But, he said: "We are not living under the same circumstances. It is time to make a new transition and a new change [at the UN].

"THE UN NEEDS SERIOUS REFORM"

"The UN needs serious reform," he added. The UN has yet to respond to the quest for justice, the Turkish president said, citing as an example UN inaction on the Palestinian issue. "Is the Palestinian issue resolvable?" he asked rhetorically.

"Why not? Because there are many decisions taken against Israel at the UN, but none of them is implementable." UN resolutions condemning unjust actions by Israel have frequently faced vetoes in the Security Council.

TURKEY'S EU BID

Erdogan decried the "cruelty" of the EU failing to offer Turkey membership since 1963, adding that a referendum may be held in Turkey on its decades-long EU bid. There are many things that we can contribute to the European Union," said Erdogan.

"They may have many things to contribute to us but what should be done is, I suppose, to consult with 81 million [people in Turkey] and look at what they will decide.

After Turkeys accession talks began in 2005, they stalled in 2007 due to objections from the Greek Cypriot administration on the divided island of Cyprus, as well as opposition from Germany and France. In recent years, referendums have given Turkish voters a say on such weighty issues as direct election of the president and changing Turkeys government system.

To gain EU membership, Turkey must successfully conclude negotiations on 35 policy chapters that involve reforms and the adoption of European standards. As of May 2016, a total of 16 chapters had been opened and one concluded. However, in December 2016, the member states said no new chapters would be opened.

"I ALSO SEE THOSE SIGNS"

Asked whether the EU project is nearing its end, Erdogan said: I also see those signs. In his speech, the president also accused the U.S. of sending 19,000 truckloads of weapons and ammunition to terrorist groups in Syria. Turkey has repeatedly objected to U.S. support for the terrorist PKK/PYD as a "reliable ally" in Syria, which has included supplying arms and equipment.

SYRIA

On Turkish troops presence in Syria, Erdogan said: The people of Syrian invited us there. Come here to save us, they said.

He said this was the case in the Syrian cities of Idlib and Afrin. Turkey will continue to support the oppressed people in Syria, he added. Erdogan said that Turkey will leave Syria only when the Syrian people have held an election in peace.

On Jan. 20, Turkey launched Operation Olive Branch to remove YPG/PKK and Daesh terrorists from Afrin, near the Turkish border.

On March 18, Turkish troops and the Free Syrian Army liberated the Afrin district center. Following a meeting in Sochi, Russia, last month between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, the two countries agreed to establish a demilitarized zone in Idlib, Syrias last opposition stronghold. Ankara and Moscow also signed a memorandum of understanding calling for the stabilization of Idlib's de-escalation zone, in which acts of aggression are expressly prohibited.
Joint press release

Today, Ms Etilda Gjonaj, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Albania, and Mr Ladislav Hamran, President of Eurojust, the European Union's Judicial Cooperation Unit, signed a cooperation agreement to enhance operational and strategic judicial cooperation between Albania and Eurojust. It will be the third cooperation agreement between Eurojust and a State in the Western Balkan region and is a further important step in the joint fight against serious transnational crime, since it will unlock the possibility of a safe and efficient exchange of judicial information and sharing of evidence. The signing ceremony took place in the context of this year's EU-Western Balkans Ministerial Forum on Justice and Home Affairs in Tirana, and in the presence of Dr Josef Moser, Minister of Constitutional Affairs, Reforms, Deregulation and Justice of Austria, and Ms Vera Jourova, European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality.

Ms Etilda Gjonaj said: 'The agreement with Eurojust will bring a qualitative improvement in the conduct of transnational investigations. It will enable Albanian prosecution teams to strengthen cooperation with their colleagues from EU Member States and other countries that are part of this structure, including from our regional partners, fYROM and Montenegro, will increase the exchange of judicial information and will allow Albania to send a Liaison Prosecutor to Eurojust, in The Hague, on a permanent basis. This will directly contribute to the common results in the fight against organised crime, terrorism and corruption, will raise trust in our investigative capacities, and will bring Albania closer to the European Union.'

Mr Hamran said: 'In our globalised world, criminals cross borders and so must our criminal justice systems. I warmly welcome the conclusion of today's cooperation agreement, which will consolidate our partnership and bring Albania fully into the Eurojust family. It will unlock the full possibilities for Albania to take part in and benefit from all the practical cooperation tools offered through Eurojust to prosecute serious, cross-border crime cases, bring suspects to justice and protect our citizens. Only together can we make Europe a safer place.'

Dr Moser said: 'On an international level, we can only crack down on crime if we act together in a global effort. Eurojust promotes and facilitates the coordination and cooperation among the national judicial authorities in prosecuting serious cross-border crime in the EU. Yesterday, we saw in the framework of the Western Balkans Conference that Albania is now ready to cooperate more closely with the EU  also in the area of criminal law. The Austrian Presidency greatly welcomes the cooperation between Eurojust and Albania. In this context, we have importantly set the course for better and more intensive cooperation of Albania with the EU.'

Ms Jourova said: 'I welcome the signature of the Eurojust-Albania cooperation agreement. Closer ties between the Albanian and European judicial authorities will help improve the fight against transnational crime. The aim is simple: we want to make life of organised crime groups more difficult by exchanging information and evidence faster. The agreement will strengthen cooperation and mutual trust between Albania and its EU partners, contributing to Albania's European perspective.'

Fast and efficient exchange of information and evidence between Albania and EU Member States in international crime investigations

With today's agreement, Albania will benefit from accessing Eurojust's information systems as well as from sharing personal data and evidence with prosecutors and investigators from all over Europe. The agreement creates also the possibility to appoint a Liaison Prosecutor to Eurojust in the near future to further improve cooperation. Since 2015, Albania has been involved in 36 international investigations into serious cross-border crime, supported by Eurojust, mainly concerning organised crime groups that engage in drug trafficking and crimes against life, limb or personal freedom, such as murder, kidnapping and illegal trade in human organs (click on image to enlarge). Since 2017, Albania has also participated in two joint investigation teams (JITs), including one with Italy. The formal negotiations to enter into a cooperation agreement were initiated in 2016.

A strong hands-on partnership with the Western Balkans

Since 2008, Eurojust has established an increasingly strong framework for structural judicial cooperation between EU Member States and the Western Balkan States in the area of serious crime. Eurojust has cooperation agreements in place with fYROM since 2008 and with Montenegro since 2016. These States also have Liaison Prosecutors appointed at Eurojust in The Hague, who work side by side with magistrates from the EU Member States to facilitate ongoing investigations. There are contact points for Eurojust in five Western Balkan States, including in Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina (click on image to enlarge).

Facilitation of nearly 200 joint criminal investigations between EU Member and Western Balkan States

From January 2015 to September 2018, 193 cases were registered with Eurojust involving Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, fYROM, Montenegro and Serbia. The most common crime types were swindling and fraud, drug trafficking, as well as crimes against life, limb or personal freedom. During the reference period, 9 joint investigation teams (JITs) between EU Member States and Western Balkan States were established (click on image to enlarge).

Background: Eurojust cooperation agreements

Eurojust is the European Union's Judicial Cooperation Unit set up in 2002 to stimulate and enhance the cooperation between the competent authorities of the Member States and improve the coordination of their investigations and prosecutions, in relation to serious organised cross-border crime. Eurojust can formally cooperate with third States with which it has signed cooperation agreements for the exchange of judicial information and personal data. Currently, Eurojust has concluded cooperation agreements with 10 third States: Albania, fYROM, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the USA. Six of these States have also appointed a Liaison Prosecutor to Eurojust.

More information
Weather to finally dry out for harvest

With the weather drying out from now until Monday, we should be seeing average rainfall and a return to the dry summer we are used to for the rest of the year.
What do you think about this? Who can teach more about how to run your own successful business: a practitioner or a theorist? People, who earn for a living only by teaching others how to create a successful business, while they have nothing or great entrepreneurs that created multibillion-dollar corporations that made fortunes and provided jobs for thousands of specialists, many of whom themselves later became rich and successful?

Reading smartbooks and only theorizing on the philosophy of success is almost the same as being a straight-A student, but order your papers at edusson.com. Be honest with yourself, the theory is not a key to success.

In this article, we have collected biographies of businessmen and the history of the creation of the biggest world companies. Each life story from this list is worth a dozen of the lectures you read from the great theorists.

MCDONALDS

Mac and Dick McDonald brothers became the pioneers of fast food by opening the first self-service restaurant in December 1948. It is likely that their business would have remained a California-scale project if only not the help of a quick supplier of cocktail mixers named Ray Kroc, who, by the way, was on the verge of bankruptcy when meeting McDonalds. He believed in the future of the company and launched the sale of franchises. In 1961 he bought the brothers business for $ 2.7 million. In 1965 he managed more than 700 restaurants in the United States.

The initial overseas McDonalds opened in Canada in 1967, after which the hamburger corporation launched a triumphant march across the planet. In Russia, the opening of McDonalds took place on January 31, 1990, and caused incredible excitement. By the way, respecting local traditions of different countries, the company adopts a menu and design of dishes. For example, there is no Big Mac in the menu of Indian restaurants, but there is Maharaja Mak made of lamb meat. In total, McDonalds has more than 35,000 restaurants in the world, and despite scandals and legal proceedings (its worth remembering at least the story of the sensational documentary Super Size Me, as well as a trial won by Jamie Oliver): during active hours more than 70 million people become its clients daily.

HILTON

Pulling the plug on the unfulfilled dream of becoming a banker, 31-year-old son of a grocer, Conrad Hilton decided to try his luck in the hotel business. In 1925 he opened his initial Hilton hotel in Dallas, and firmly set out to make the best hotel in Texas  and eventually created the empire of the hospitality industry. Even the Great Depression, which hit America hard in the 20s, did not stop Hilton, he was forced to cede his company to creditors. But, one of the main habits of successful people is persistence, so he bought it out after five years and resumed active work. In 1954 Conrad stunned the whole America, having made the biggest deal, having bought his main competitor  the company Statler Hotels  for $111 million. By the end of the 60s, Hilton owned more than 40 hotels in the United States, plus about the same overseas.

The success of the Hilton business empire was made up of numerous innovations, which today are considered an integral part of the hospitality industry. It was Hilton who invented the star (by analogy with cognac) hotel rating system. He also proposed to integrate hotels and casinos (which instantly increased the number of customers), open hotels at the airport and put the quality of service at the forefront. In addition, Hilton liked to visit the hotels of competitors, watching the atmosphere and customer behavior. It was the Hilton corporation that introduced the system of encouraging loyal customers, an information and reference system for booking rooms with air and train tickets, and even the Pinacolada cocktail was created at the Hilton Hotel. Today, the corporation has 3800 hotels of different levels in 88 countries. By the way, after the death of Conrad Hilton, the empire he built became, according to a testament, the property of the Hilton Foundation. However, one of the businessmans sons was able to challenge the fathers will in court, and a few years later the business empire returned to the Hiltons family.

VIRGIN GROUP

In 1967, the headmaster of the school that Richard Branson graduated from said the farewell to his (far from being the best) student: Congratulations, Richard! You will either go to jail or you will become a millionaire. The prediction came true. Branson became one of the most famous and the most outrageous high roller of nowadays. His company is the greatest conglomerate of various business areas. Everything was started with an idea as bold as absurd: suffering from dyslexia and, accordingly, not reading a single book, Branson decided to publish a magazine! After the magazine, he moved to the record store, next  his own record label. Later, to this was added a publishing house, an international air travel, a bridal wear, a vodka production, condoms Even Branson himself, is rumored, doesnt realize how many companies belong to his fantastic multi-brand, a total income of which today is 24 billion dollars. Obviously, the secret of the success of the Virgin corporation is in courage, bordering on madness. No wonder the name Virgin Branson chose for his business as a designation of pristine clean approach to business and the lack of any experience of employees. A non-standard approach is manifested in Bransons company at all levels, there is absolutely no subordination here, informality and creativity are welcomed, and employees calmly sip beer during the working day.
Epiris, a London, UK-based private equity firm, closed its new fund, at 821m.

Investors in Epiris Fund II included public and private pension funds (34%), endowments and foundations (30%), asset managers (22%) and private investors (14%). The Funds investor base is global and originates from North America (46%), the United Kingdom (32%), Europe (18%) and the rest of the world (4%).

Fund II has already made four investments, the most recent being the acquisition of global auction house Bonhams. The other investments to date are TI Media, the UKs largest consumer magazine publisher, Portals, one of the worlds leading manufacturers of substrate for banknotes, and The Club Company, the UKs largest country club operator.

Led by Alex Fortescue, Managing Partner, the firm targets UK-headquartered businesses with an enterprise value of between 75 million and 500 million, deploying between 40 million and 150 million of equity in each investment.

FinSMEs

04/10/2018
Sense, a Cambridge, MA-based provider of an intelligent home energy monitor, closed an $18M Series B financing.

The round, which brought total funding to date to $38.6M, was led by Schneider Electric, with participation from Prelude Ventures, Capricorn Investment Group, Shell Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, and iRobot.

The company intends to use the funds to pursue broader consumer adoption with a partnership ecosystem that includes home construction, energy providers, and smart home innovators.

Led by CEO Mike Phillips, Sense provides an intelligent home energy monitor, which gives real-time insights into energy and device activity in the home. Customers use it for a wide range of uses including checking what time their kids get home, monitoring their home appliances, determining whether they left appliances running, and identifying how to reduce their energy costs. Its patented machine learning technology measures power one million times per second, identifying devices in the home based on their electrical signals and providing homeowners with insights on individual device behavior.

FinSMEs

05/10/2018
Deerfield provided $125m to refinance existing debt and provide growth capital to Tris Pharma, Inc., a Monmouth Junction, NJ-based fully integrated pharmaceutical company.

The company intends to use the funds to expand its branded pharmaceutical portfolio with a particular focus on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), launch and promote new products and continue development of its drug development platform.

In addition to the financing, Deerfield and Tris plan to enter into a product development agreement to leverage Tris proprietary drug delivery technology.

Led by Ketan Mehta, president and chief executive officer, Tris Tris Pharma is a pharmaceutical company focused on the development of innovative medicines that address unmet patient needs. Tris has pioneered the delivery of sustained release in the liquid, chewable, orally disintegrating tablet, and strip dosage forms that benefit a wide variety of patients and their unique needs.

The companys research, manufacturing and commercial facilities are located in Central New Jersey.

FinSMEs

05/10/2018
.               47-  .              .    2  1   7.00 .     20.00 .        ,   20.00 .     ...
Department of Defense(WASHINGTON) -- In the third floor hallway of the Pentagon, just outside the Army Chief of Staff's office, there is a pigeon.



Walking the corridors, the lifelike pigeon stands out among the cases of military history that display Revolutionary-era bayonets, Civil War uniforms and replicas of helicopters used in Vietnam. Upon closer inspection, one might notice the pigeon is so life-like because it has been taxidermied. It's also missing one leg.



That pigeon's name is "President Wilson" -- an unsung hero of World War I that made a daring flight to save U.S. troops exactly 100 years ago on Friday.



President Wilson was a military carrier pigeon, one of many in the U.S. Army Signal Corps that delivered messages between commanders and troops on the front lines. The pigeons were especially useful tools of communication during World War I when the telephone and telegraph were still unreliable new technologies.



According to U.S. military accounts recorded in the U.S. Army Center of Military History and the National Archives, Wilson was born in France and first assigned to the U.S. Army's newly formed Tank Corps, delivering messages to Tank Battalions commanded by Col. George S. Patton in the Battle of Saint-Mihiel.



But soon afterward, Wilson was assigned to an infantry unit conducting operations near Grandpre during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.



On the morning of Oct. 5, 1918, his unit came under attack, and Wilson was dispatched to send a message that the unit needed artillery support. During the 25-mile journey, German soldiers spotted him and began firing into his flight path. (It should be noted that some accounts of Wilson's heroics place the event as occurring on Nov. 5, but multiple historians reached by ABC corroborated the Oct. 5 date.)



Wilson was hit several times, losing a leg and suffering a wound to his chest, but he managed to deliver the message in a record 25 minutes.



Surviving his wounds, Wilson was retired and sent to the U.S. Army Signal Corps Breeding and Training Center at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, where he would live another eleven years.



After his death, Wilson was taxidermied and presented to the Smithsonian Institution before being transferred to the custody of the U.S. Army in 2008. Now, located in the prestigious halls of the U.S. military's headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, Wilson serves as a reminder that these simple birds  often considered a nuisance by the general public -- were once war heroes.

Department of DefenseCarrier pigeons were used by both the Allied and Central Powers during World War I and could even provide updates to military commanders when launched in midair from planes.



"Launched mid-mission, the birds would fly back to their coops and update ground commanders on what the pilots had observed," the National Archives wrote in a blog post in January. "Quick updates like this were essential for leaders to know what the battlefield looked like and what the enemy was doing in its own trenches."



"Tanks carried the birds in order to relay the advance of individual units. Even after the introduction of the radio, pigeons were often the easiest way to help coordinate tank units without exposing the men to dangerous fire. Without a radio set, the soldiers would have had to leave the relative safety of their tanks to relay or receive orders," the Archives said.



When the pigeons weren't in use, they were stored in mobile units, often converted horse carriages or even double-decker buses.



The birds are thought to use low-frequency sound waves to map their environments and find their way from location to location.



Another famous World War I pigeon was known as Cher Ami -- his moment of heroism came during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in the fall of 1918.



The German Army surrounded elements of the 77th Division for five days, at one moment confusing the Americans as they accidentally shelled their own men in an attempt to fire at the enemy.



Messages were unable to get to U.S. commanders, so Cher Ami was released as the division's last hope. Like Wilson, Cher Ami flew through a barrage of gunfire, also sustaining injuries to his leg and chest. But he successfully delivered the message, ending the friendly fire.



The French even awarded Cher Ami the Croix de Guerre with Palm, a military decoration, for his service.



Military carrier pigeons were again used in World War II. In that war, 32 pigeons were awarded the United Kingdom's Dickin Medal for their heroic actions.



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.
Cities like Austin and San Francisco are typically top of mind when it comes to startup hubs, but thanks to the impact of programs like Venture for America, Cleveland may soon have an indelible spot on that list.



The program matches a select group of recent college graduates (or fellows) with full-time jobs at startup companies in 14 economically challenged citiesincluding Charlotte. Kansas City, New Orleans, and Providence. Now in its sixth year locally, Clevelands Venture for America cohort kicked off in early September with 13 new fellows hailing from schools including Duke, Notre Dame, Georgetown, and more. They join 15 other VFA fellows already working in Northeast Ohio. (The program follows a two-year term, so the 2017-2018 fellows are now in the second phase of their VFA experience.)



Our mission is to create economic opportunity in American cities by mobilizing the next generation of entrepreneurs and equipping them with the skills and resources they need to create jobs, explains Elizabeth Brake, VFA's Senior Director of Company Partnerships. We focus on recruiting a cohort of high-potential college graduates whove been out of school for no more than three years and helping them discover the opportunities that exist in cities like Cleveland.



Brake says the 12 participating local companies range from biotech startups (such as GenomOncology and BioMotiv) to tech companies (like BoxCast and Votem) to manufacturing (MAGNET). Our fellows are [placed] in industries that are really on the forefront of what Cleveland already does well, says Brake.



This years VFA cohort kicked off this summer with a rigorous monthlong bootcamp in Detroit, where the fellows met with notables like Dan Gilbert, Arlan Hamilton (of Backstage Capital), and Dug Song (of Duo Securities). Its a monthlong residential experience in which we equip them with the hard skills they need to be successful, from problem-solving to human-centered design, shares Brake. We also cover soft skills, such as managing up or giving and receiving feedbackthe kinds of things graduates may not know right out of college.



Along with providing promising startups with access to talent, Venture for America also runs a four-month accelerator available to VFA alumni. Examples of Cleveland businesses born via the accelerator are HomeCity (which creates a social network via a curated series of events), and PathSpot (a scanner that can detect pathogens that cause foodborne illness on ones hands).



One of the new developments this year is that Brakethe programs former Cleveland directorhas taken on the role of Senior Director of Company Partnerships, so Carrie Murphy has stepped in as the new Director of Northeast Ohioa title meant to reflect the programs broader geographic focus on both Cleveland and Akron.



Were focused on Cleveland and local markets beyond Cleveland, says Brake. We purposely pitched [Murphys] role as Director of Northeast Ohio rather than Director of Cleveland.



Since 2013, the Cleveland VFA program has welcomed 63 fellows, and Brake predicts that theyll bring 20 fellows to the Northeast Ohio region next yeargrowth that she attributes largely to the enthusiasm of local VFA alumni and current Cleveland fellows.



The Cleveland program really stands out for the strength of its community, says Brake. The fellows have become real cheerleaders for Cleveland and feel strongly that their cohort and program is the best VFA city."
State funding will create this new workforce development program with the affects of climate change in mind.
Economic report for the city : Bonn adds 3,700 jobs within a year

Bonn Lord Mayor Ashok Sridharan describes Bonns economic development in the last year as dynamic, highly productive and an economic driving force in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Teilen

Teilen Weiterleiten

Weiterleiten Tweeten

Tweeten Weiterleiten

Weiterleiten Drucken

As of June 30, 2017, the number of jobs subject to social security contributions increased by around 3,700 to a total of 173,531 - the increase of 2.2 percent was just below the NRW average of 2.3 percent. Growth has come mainly in the health and social sectors and the information and communication industry.

419 new jobs were created in public administration, especially in federal agencies. But Bonn declined in its role as the second seat of the German Federal Government, with only 33.1 percent of ministerial jobs remaining here, the rest of them in Berlin. The manufacturing industry is developing steadily and accounts for around eight percent of all employees.

The upswing in the services and administration sector has been going on for a while: over the past three years, Bonn has gained around 10,000 jobs. The city is particularly strong in the academic sector. Those employed in the academic field make up 28.5 percent of all employees, putting Bonn in rank seven nationwide.

But the end of 2019 may bring with it a setback in job numbers. For one, Zurich Insurance has announced that they plan to move their headquarters from Bonn to Cologne, which would mean a loss of around 1,500 jobs for Bonn. With that in mind, Sridharan expressed appreciation to the Postbank, with its 3,500 Bonn employees, for planning to lease the new building on Neuer Kanzlerplatz (in the area where the Bonn Center once stood). He thanked the Postbank for choosing to remain loyal to Bonn.

Victoria Applebe, the director of the Office for Economic Development in Bonn, sees a positive result in how Bonn has developed from an economic standpoint. Last year, her bureau supported 846 corporate initiatives, from both existing companies and start-ups. Major projects include the expansion of the SGL Group in Bad Godesberg, where 25 million euros will be invested over the next four years. Appelbe expects the SGL Group - The Carbon Company to bring around 150 new jobs.

Problematic is the small availability of commercial space. To help fill the gap, Appelbe relies on cooperation with the Rhine-Sieg district. As well, a business and industrial park in Putzchen should help; it will start advertising in 2019.

Original text: Andreas Baumann
Emergency appeal granted : Court orders temporary halt to Hambach Forest clearing

Munster Surprising success for environmentalists in their fight against the clearing of the Hambach Forest: A court in Munster has temporarily suspended the RWE forest clearing while it considers the case.

Teilen

Teilen Weiterleiten

Weiterleiten Tweeten

Tweeten Weiterleiten

Weiterleiten Drucken

A court in the city of Munster has ordered a preliminary stop to the clearing of the Hambach Forest near Cologne. The court accepted an urgent appeal from the environmental organization BUND ("German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation") to stop cutting down trees. In the coming months, energy concern RWE wanted to cut down more than half of the remaining forest in order to expand an existing open pit coal mine.

In its argument to the court, BUND said that the forest has a population of Bechsteins bats and because of that, it must be protected under the EUs Habitats Directive. The court said the documents to support the appeal filled several boxes. Coupled with the complexity of the legal issues involved, it would be impossible to expedite a quick legal decision. It ordered a suspension of the forest clearing for the time being.

Energy concern RWE planned to cut down a good 100 hectares of the 200 hectares of forest that remain in order to expand open pit mining. It says a temporary stop to the forest clearing would jeopardize its power plant supply.

Climate activists have been demonstrating for years against lignite mining and in support of climate protection by occupying the forest. Time and again, RWE employees and police were attacked with Molotov cocktails.

Hambach Forest was once 4,100 hectares, home to centuries-old beech and oak trees. It is on what is probably the largest European lignite open pit mine, situated between Aachen and Cologne. It is now considered a symbol of resistance to lignite-based power, as it is a symbol of climate protection.

The state government of North Rhine-Westphalia had instructed the district of Duren and the city of Kerpen to empty the tree houses where activists had been staying for security reasons. Police had cleared out the tree houses in the past few days.
xspraise at 5-10-2018 06:37 AM (3 years ago) (m)

Big Brother Naija Double Wahala star Antoinette Munirat Lecky took to her instagram handle to share new photos with a Python in Benin. The American born reality star paid a visit to The Temple of Python in Benin, an ancient site, where lots of snakes are housed and worshipped in Ouidah, Benin. And rumor has it that women on their menstrual circle are not allowed to enter.

Big Brother Naija Double Wahala star Antoinette Munirat Lecky took to her instagram handle to share new photos with a Python in Benin. The American born reality star paid a visit to The Temple of Python in Benin, an ancient site, where lots of snakes are housed and worshipped in Ouidah, Benin. And rumor has it that women on their menstrual circle are not allowed to enter.

Quote At The Temple of Python during my trip to Ouidah, Benin Republic with @irinajo_ng:  She said.



In Ouidah, people are not usually afraid of snakes; rather they are seen as holy and blessed animals in the voodoo religion. And according to Atlas Obscura, snakes serve as a key totem for followers of Vodun, a religion practiced by groups of people within West and Central African nations such as Ghana, Togo, and Benin.



















In Ouidah, people are not usually afraid of snakes; rather they are seen as holy and blessed animals in the voodoo religion. And according to Atlas Obscura, snakes serve as a key totem for followers of Vodun, a religion practiced by groups of people within West and Central African nations such as Ghana, Togo, and Benin.

Post Reply I am Victor, I write reportage on sport news and latest metro happenings in Nigeria. Posted: at 5-10-2018 06:37 AM (3 years ago) | Hero
A total of 100 pictures on display were selected from more than 1,500 entries sent by 147 entrants in a photo contest of the same name, which was launched by the Nguoi Ha Noi (Hanoians) Newspaper and the Hanoi Artistic Photography Association in January this year.

The exhibit features the beauty of Hanoians through their good deeds and actions, which have contributed to making Hanoi an elegant and culturally advanced city.

The smiles of Hanoi are also seen through the images of international tourists who experience the life and culture in the city.

At the opening ceremony, the organising board presented the first prize to Nguyen Van Luan for his photo entitled Co Giao Tre (Young Teacher). One second, two third and nine consolation prizes were also awarded to outstanding entries.

The exhibition will run until October 7 at the Hanoi Information and Exposition Centre, 93 Dinh Tien Hoang street, Hoan Kiem district.

All revenues collected from the selling of the exhibits will be donated to people in areas hit by natural disasters in Sin Ho district, Lai Chau province.

Selected photos on display at the exhibition:
The deputy PM made the remarks while hosting a reception for French Ambassador to Vietnam, Bertrand Lortholary, and Philippe Christodoulou, Vice President of Large Industries International Development, at Paris-based Air Liquide, in Hanoi, on October 4.

He stated that the strategic partnership between Vietnam and France has been growing finely, manifested through the regular exchange of high-level delegations, including the visit to Vietnam by the French President in September 2016 and the visit to France made by Party General Secretary, Nguyen Phu Trong, in March 2018.

Cooperation across the fields of culture, education, economics, trade and investment has seen positive developments and has become a pillar in the bilateral ties, Deputy PM Dung said, noting that France is currently a leading economic partner of Vietnam in Europe.

French Ambassador Bertrand Lortholary affirmed that many French firms are eyeing investment in Vietnam, especially in the areas of Frances strength and Vietnams demand, such as infrastructure, energy, and high-tech industry. He expressed his belief that both sides would further accelerate their multi-faceted cooperation in the future, particularly the cooperation between their enterprises.

Deputy PM Trinh Dinh Dung (right) and Philippe Christodoulou, Vice President of Large Industries International Development at Paris-based Air Liquide. (Photo: VGP)

Philippe Christodoulou briefed the deputy PM on Air Liquides investment activities in Vietnam since 1996, stressing his companys wish to get involved in the Dung Quat oil refinery expansion project and certain other energy projects in Vietnam.

With its experience and superior technology, Air Liquide will successfully cooperate with Vietnamese businesses in the fields of energy and refining/petrochemical, he affirmed.

Concerning Christodoulous proposal, Deputy PM Dung asked Air Liquide to work with the Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical Company, the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group, and the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade to discuss specific cooperation plans. He also underscored the top goal of ensuring the post-upgrade efficiency and quality of products of the Dung Quat oil refinery and meeting the standards on safety and environmental protection.
Governments around the nation are working to design the best vaccine policies that keep both their employees and their residents safe. Although the latest data shows a variety of polarizing perspectives, there are clear emerging best practices that leading governments are following to put trust first: creating policies that are flexible and provide a range of options, and being in tune with the needs and sentiments of their employees so that they are able to be dynamic and accommodate the rapidly changing situation.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms signed a bill Wednesday officially renaming three city streets with Confederate in their names.Confederate Avenue and East Confederate Avenue will be renamed United Avenue and United Avenue S.E., respectively, and a third street, Confederate Court, will be renamed Trestletree Court, after apartment buildings that are on the street.Residents of the neighborhoods chose the new names, and new street signs are expected to begin going up after Thanksgiving. About two dozen signs will be affected. A formal ceremony commemorating the change will be held during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in January.After a months-long campaign that included meetings, door-to-door canvassing and a ballot process spearheaded by residents who live along the streets, the renaming measure got the unanimous vote of the Atlanta City Council on Monday.In a small, private ceremony on Wednesday attended by City Council member Carla Smith, who pushed the legislation through, Bottoms turned the page on a contentious issue. The two were flanked by a small contingent of Grant Park and Ormewood Park residents who also helped shepherd the measure through with a long and sometimes tense campaign."Atlanta is once again showing America who we are," Bottoms said.Bottoms' action is the latest in a series of efforts across the South to deal with Confederate iconography. But the renaming originated with the people who live on and travel the southern Atlanta artery every day.The mayor characterized the renaming as "a change that helps put the divisions of the past behind us and moves us forward in the spirit of a united Atlanta."Smith, who has been working with neighbors since last winter to replace the name, teared up toward the end of the signing ceremony."I feel as if a weight has been lifted," Smith said. "And now, our precious, impressionable children will no longer stand at the bus stop under the old name, but can proudly look up and see the sign 'United Avenue.'"Bottoms said she was not worried about a backlash to the new moniker, saying the process that led to the change was "the Atlanta way."But some people remain against the change. Will Dean, who has lived on Confederate Avenue for several years, said at a public "listening session" last month about the street names that it was "important to maintain history." Reached Wednesday afternoon, Dean said the mayor's action was "very disappointing."Residents of the Grant Park and Ormewood Park neighborhoods have been trying for years to change the name of the avenues, powerful and literal reminders of the Confederacy and its aftermath. For years, many residents said that legacy represented a racist, treasonous regime that fought the Civil War to keep the institution of slavery alive in the South. Others balked at such characterizations, saying that the Confederacy and memorials to it were simply about Southern heritage and pride.After the 2015 mass shooting of African-American churchgoers in Charleston, S.C., and the 2017 killing of a counter-protester at a white supremacists' rally in Charlottesville, Va. -- where Confederate iconography was prominent -- the push to rename Atlanta's Confederate street names surged.The effort accelerated earlier this year as residents renewed their campaign to get enough signatures of property owners along the affected streets. City ordinance requires 75 percent of the property owners to sign off on a name change before the City Council can vote on it.The immediate renaming of the two avenues was recommended by an 11-member advisory committee set up last fall by then-Mayor Kasim Reed and the City Council. Before it dissolved in November, the Advisory Committee on City of Atlanta Street Names and Monuments Associated with the Confederacy suggested several actions the city should take to remove or address Confederate iconography. Smith and fellow City Council members Michael Julian Bond and Natalyn Archibong are part of a new, three-member panel charged with coming up with a plan to implement the advisory committee's recommendations.The panel has met twice since September, Smith said last week. The 11-member advisory committee also recommended changing the names of other streets in Atlanta named for Robert E. Lee, Nathan Bedford Forrest, John B. Gordon, Stephen Dill Lee, and Howell Cobb."The aforementioned were significant Confederate military leaders and actively involved in white supremacist activities after the war, making them undeserving of the honor of a street name in Atlanta," the committee wrote in its report.The advisory group also said Atlanta should address other street names and monuments, including the Peace Monument in Piedmont Park, that represent "Lost Cause mythology."The timetable for addressing those symbols is undetermined, Smith said, but she added that the accomplishment with Confederate Avenue provided a blueprint on how that might happen.
Florida's attorney general said Thursday she is launching an investigation of potential sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic church, making Florida at least the 13th state with an ongoing statewide probe of the church."Any priest that would exploit a position of power and trust to abuse a child is a disgrace to the church and a threat to society," said Attorney General Pam Bondi in a statement.The Attorney General's Office will coordinate its probe with local prosecutors and review records from all seven of Florida's Catholic dioceses. It is also launching a tip line for victims.During a press conference Thursday, Bondi said her office will be issuing subpoenas to the dioceses "immediately." Bishops in Florida have pledged cooperation with the investigation, Bondi said.
States are continuing to take significant action on immigration as President Donald Trump makes it his signature issue at the federal level, according to a new report by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).Typically, more federal action means less at the state level, says Ann Morse, director of NCSLs immigrant policy project. But, she says, that hasn't been the case.The Trump administration made several major immigration decisions this year, includingbriefly implementating a "zero tolerance" policy for separating immigrant families at the border, proposing a rule that would make it harder for legal immigrants to get green cards if they have used government benefits and capping the number of refugees allowed to enter the United States next year.Meanwhile, NCSL reports that lawmakers in 43 states enacted 116 laws and 175 resolutions on the subject this year.Many of the resolutions, according to Morse, ask for federal assistance on immigration issues -- a reminder that this subject is fundamentally in need of national solutions.Only the federal government can solve immigration, she says, and states want to be partners in helping create that solution.Three big areas related to state immigration policy this year were refugees, education and cooperation with federal enforcement.Two states -- California and Tennessee -- enacted some form of sanctuary policy to protect immigrants from deportation."California prohibited law enforcement agencies from contracting with the federal government to house individuals as federal detainees for purposes of civil immigration custody. Tennessee barred state or local government entities or officials from adopting or enacting sanctuary policies," the report reads.Iowa, meanwhile, went the other direction and started requiring state law enforcement officers to comply with federal requests to detain immigrants.On refugees, Morse says shes surprised states didnt take more action. There was a sharp decline in bills introduced on the subject -- 21, compared to 65 last year. Still, the report details several noteworthy developments:Colorado stated that any foreign national admitted to the United States as a refugee or with special immigrant status who has settled in Colorado is eligible for in-state tuition, and Massachusetts ordered a study of areas in which there is a need for cultural and integration services for refugees. Several states, including California, Florida, Hawaii and New Mexico, introduced resolutions in support of refugees or child migrants at the southern border and urged Congress to take supportive action. Vermont and Washington enacted laws that focus on integrating refugee populations into the workforce by removing barriers for professional licensure and by increasing access to English education.On education, several states incorporated parts of the federal naturalization exam into high school testing requirements. With the addition of Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania, 17 states now make passing a civics test a condition of graduation.The number of immigration-related bills and resolutions enacted this year represents a 13 percent decline from the same period last year, when every state but three enacted an immigration law.
SPEED READ:

West Virginia is the only state where the legislature has no say over the judicial budget.

The constitutional amendment approved by voters gives the legislature some control over it.

The proposal came at a time when state lawmakers have put every state Supreme Court justice on trial for impeachment -- some for misusing funds.

West Virginia politics has been roiled this fall by the impeachment trials of all the sitting justices on the state Supreme Court. The events overshadowed a ballot measure meant to address the underlying issue that led to the trials -- how the judiciary spends its funds. Still, the constitutional amendment easily passed.The measure gives the legislature more control over the judicial budget. Now, any part of the court system's budget could be cut or eliminated by lawmakers, so long as the overall judicial budget is at least 85 percent as large as it had been the prior fiscal year. West Virginia had beenthe only state where the legislature had no say over it.The changes to judicial funding drew much less media coverage or voter interest than the ongoing impeachment drama, or another amendment on the state ballot regarding abortion. "Most of the attention seems to be on the impeachment trials themselves, not on structural fixes to the perceived problems," Scott Crichlow, a political scientist at West Virginia University, said in early October.Last month, the state Senate reprimanded Justice Beth Walker but voted to let her keep her seat on the bench, following a two-day impeachment trial. That same day, a jury was selected in the criminal trial of suspended Justice Allen Loughly, who faces 22 federal charges, including mail fraud, obstruction of justice and making a false statement.In August, the West Virginia House voted to impeach Loughry, Walker and two other justices, charging them with failure to carry out their duties. Several justices were charged with misuse of funds on office renovations, salaries or vehicles and computers. A fifth justice, Menis Ketchum, had stepped down in the face of a federal indictment. He pleaded guilty in August to misusing public funds.Despite the criminal complaints, Democrats in West Virginia accused Republicans of orchestrating a "power grab" and trying to push out justices elected by Democrats to allow GOP Gov. Jim Justice to stack the bench. The impeachment push came months after allegations against the justices had surfaced, leading Democrats to argue that Republican legislators had stalled until a deadline passed that would have allowed voters to fill vacancies through special elections in November. Justice Robin Davis resigned ahead of the impeachment vote to allow voters to pick her successor.In August, the governor appointed state House Speaker Tim Armstead and Congressman Evan Jenkins to fill the Davis and Jenkins seats on an interim basis. Twenty candidates are seeking the two positions on the November ballot.Republican state Sen. Greg Boso, a sponsor of the judicial funding measure on the ballot, says few people realized until the current controversies that the legislature could not amend that budget. But the issue of how justices spend their money has certainly gotten lots of attention lately, which made him confident that voters would respond favorably to a measure meant to provide greater oversight and control."I have seen no one that is opposing the measure," hesaid before the election. "To be honest with you, I haven't talked to anybody who is not going to vote for the measure."Some court officials complained that it violates the principle of separation between the branches, but there was no organized campaign to oppose it.The fact that there was so much talk in the air about judicial corruption made the measure almost certain to pass, says John Kilwein, another West Virginia University political scientist. "The voters will say, 'Those judges are all corrupt, so we should do this,'" Kilwein said ahead of the vote. "The vote will tip in its favor because of this."
The dialogue took place under the chair of Vietnamese Deputy Minister of National Defence Sen. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh and US Assistant Secretary of Defence for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs Randall Schriver.

Deputy Minister Vinh said the two countries have been witnessing strong and substantive strides in their defence ties. He thanked the US Government and Department of Defence for actively supporting Vietnam with equipment and training to help it deploy the first Level-2 field hospital to the UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan.

Reviewing the outcomes attained in the cooperation to settle war consequences, he said this will remain an important cooperation field between Vietnam and the US, as well as between the two militaries in the time ahead.

For his part, Schriver congratulated Vietnam on deploying the field hospital to the UN mission in South Sudan. He affirmed that the US Department of Defence is ready to continue cooperating with and assisting Vietnam in this area.

At the dialogue, the two sides looked back on bilateral defence ties and discussed ways to promote this collaboration in line with the 2011 Memorandum of Understanding for Advancing Bilateral Defence Cooperation, the 2015 Joint Vision Statement on Defence Relations, the Plan of Action for Defence Cooperation for 2018  2020, as well as the two ministries high-level agreements.

The officials looked into measures to improve the effectiveness of cooperation in such fields as war aftermath settlement, search and rescue, disaster aid, and UN peacekeeping missions. They also exchanged ideas on a cooperation and coordination plan when Vietnam holds the ASEAN Chair in 2020.

International and regional issues of shared concern were also discussed at the event.

Defence Minister Gen. Ngo Xuan Lich (right) presents a souvenir to US Assistant Secretary of Defence for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs Randall Schriver. (Photo: qdnd.vn)

Also on October 4, Defence Minister Gen. Ngo Xuan Lich had a meeting with Assistant Secretary Schriver.

The minister expressed his delight at the enhanced bilateral defence cooperation which, he said, has greatly contributed to the two countries comprehensive partnership.

He said on the basis of the dialogues outcomes, the two ministries should make stronger efforts to develop defence ties in a more result-oriented, practical and effective manner, especially in addressing war consequences and sharing experiences in UN peacekeeping activities, manpower training, military medicine, and humanitarian aid.
The team of Los Angeles County sheriffs deputies cruises the 5 Freeway, stopping motorists on the Grapevine in search of cars carrying drugs.Theyve worked the mountain pass in Southern California since 2012 and boast a large haul: more than a ton of methamphetamine, 2 tons of marijuana, 600 pounds of cocaine, millions of dollars in suspected drug money and more than 1,000 arrests.But behind those impressive numbers are some troubling ones.More than two-thirds of the drivers pulled over by the Domestic Highway Enforcement Team were Latino, according to a Times analysis of Sheriffs Department data. And sheriffs deputies searched the vehicles of more than 3,500 drivers who turned out to have no drugs or other illegal items, the analysis found. The overwhelming majority of those were Latino.Several of the teams big drug busts have been dismissed in federal court as the credibility of some deputies came under fire and judges ruled that deputies violated the rights of motorists by conducting unconstitutional searches.The Times analyzed data from every traffic stop recorded by the team from 2012 through the end of last year  more than 9,000 stops in all  and reviewed records from hundreds of court cases.
The Alabama Ethics Commission voted on Tuesday to drop an ethics violation case against Etowah County Sheriff Todd Entrekin.Thomas Albritton, the commission's executive director, confirmed the move in an email to AL.com Wednesday morning."Yesterday, the Commission determined that there was insufficient evidence of a violation of the Ethics Act by Sheriff Entrekin to warrant referral to either [Attorney General Steve Marshall] or the appropriate District Attorney and dismissed a pending case against him unanimously," Albritton said."Of course, under the Act both of those offices have the ability to separately investigate the issues [that] made the basis of that complaint if they so choose."The Etowah County Sheriff's Office did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday morning.Asked for details about the case against Entrekin, Albritton said that it was "related to food accounts."The Ethics Commission investigation was launched in the months following a March report by AL.com that revealed that Entrekin had pocketed more than $750,000 of public funds allocated for the purpose of feeding inmates in Etowah County's jail over the last three years. He and his wife purchased a $740,000 beach house in Orange Beach in September."The law establishes that whereas personal use may look bad, it may be bad policy, it doesn't violate the law. As it relates to this particular sheriff," Albritton said via email Wednesday."It really is a county by county analysis [because] the law often varies by county (generally does) regarding the money in food accounts. The investigation revealed that there was no violation of our Act based on the applicable local and state laws."Entrekin told AL.com in July that he was under investigation by the Ethics Commission and the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General."The federal [DHS] OIG is looking at it, they're doing an investigation, so is the Ethics Commission," Entrekin said at the time. "They're looking at the food bill, they've asked for some documents from me ... My lawyer provided them records."The status of the federal investigation is unknown, as is the status of an ongoing State Bureau of Investigation probe into allegations that he had sex with two underage women in the early 1990s.Entrekin has argued repeatedly that he did not break any laws by keeping the money, and it appears that he is permitted to do so under a Depression-era state law. But lawyers and experts have said that he may have run afoul of federal law by keeping money his office received from the federal government to feed Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees housed in his jail.
Description

GIS - 05 October, 2018: An Open Source Seminar focusing on how Virtual Reality can revolutionise treatment and medical education was held today at the Mauritius Institute of Health (MIH), Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam National Hospital in Pamplemousses in the presence of the Executive Director of the MIH, Dr G. Daby. Several doctors, practitioners, pharmacists, nursing officers and professionals of the health sector attended.

The half-day seminar, organised by the MIH in collaboration with Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie, was conducted by Mr Fabien Benetou, Mozilla Tech Speaker from Belgium. The latter gave an insight of the latest technologies in medical education and provided numerous cutting-edge examples to explain the benefits of Virtual Reality.

In her address, Dr Daby underlined that the emergence of Open Source has contributed significantly in bringing considerable improvements in healthcare systems around the world. Researchers, doctors, and nurses are now discovering innovative ways to leverage immersive technologies and transform the practice as well as teaching of medicine, she emphasised. Open source phenomenon, she recalled, is compelling each and everyone to break away from traditional education and move towards the use of contemporary means to grasp knowledge.

She highlighted that Augmented and Virtual Reality medical applications provide an ideal platform for advanced medical education, enabling students and specialists to master their field through deliberate practice before engaging with patients. Anatomical functions and structures that were earlier difficult to visualize through traditional means can today be discovered through visualisations, embodied simulations, and personalised analytics, she added.

The seminar, the Executive Director underscored, aimed at showing how Virtual Reality could be deployed in the health sector to build on the competencies of medical professionals and improve training. On this score, she pointed out that the MIH is engaged in the promotion of health and quality of life through appropriate training and research.
(TNS)  Amid withering criticism from the Legislature and the driving public, the California Department of Motor Vehicles has spent the last couple months aggressively working to reduce lengthy wait times at field offices.But lawmakers learned Thursday that the embattled agency could soon face more trouble: A dramatic increase in customers coming in for federally-mandated Real ID cards  identification required by Oct. 1, 2020 for people wishing to board planes without passports.Thus far, the DMV has largely blamed Real ID for the uptick in wait times. Since the programs implementation in January, it has issued 1.5 million Real ID cards. But the agency expects more than 15 times that many  an estimated 23.5 million  have yet to be issued, as millions of Californians have not come in for the new card.That information stunned lawmakers during a committee hearing at the Capitol on Thursday.It doesnt appear to me were anywhere near on track, said state Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica. Im just worried about the chaos that may [ensue].  Theres this huge cloud out there of getting from 1.5 million to 25 million in the course of two years.The DMV says it managed to reduce average wait times for customers without appointments by nearly an hour  from 130 minutes in mid-July to 73 minutes in mid-September  and that some offices are seeing greater reductions than others.But the agency also has requested the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to extend the Real ID deadline  a request that has so far been denied.If we could move that date out a little further, wed appreciate it, said Jean Shiomoto, the DMVs director.Asked if most Californians are even aware of the Real ID requirements, Shiomoto said, customers are just not hearing everything correctly and being prepared.The lack of preparedness also extends to lawmakers, a couple of whom asked what documents theyd need to bring into a DMV office when applying for a Real ID.Sen. Ted Gaines, R-El Dorado Hills, stated the problem most bluntly: Weve got a mess on our hands.The DMV told lawmakers it is drafting plans to ask for more money to prepare for the influx of customers expected during the 2019-2020 fiscal year.But Sen. Jim Beall, a San Jose Democrat, urged the agency to proceed with caution when asking for money in light of the departments ongoing issues  outdated technology voter registration mistakes and a looming performance audit You guys have efficiency things you need to work on before you come in here and ask for more money, Beall said.Lawmakers this summer approved nearly $17 million in additional funding to hire hundreds more staff and expand hours at field offices.
(TNS)  A statewide coalition is calling on Bay Area cities and counties to protect the privacy of immigrants by boycotting tech companies that provide data sharing services to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.The Deport ICE coalition wants governments to adopt its Sanctuary City Contracting and Investing Ordinance, which would prohibit them from investing or contracting with companies that provide data broker or extreme vetting services to ICE unless there is no alternative.Richmonds city council approved the ordinance in June and Oakland and Berkeley are considering the policy this month, according to the coalition of immigrants rights groups. The coalition plans to approach San Jose officials in the coming weeks and San Francisco later this year.The policy comes as the local immigration debate shifts toward several prominent tech companies  including Palo Altos Palantir Technologies, Vigilant Solutions in Livermore and Amazon, which have been criticized for contracting with federal immigration agencies. Last week, advocates descended on Salesforces annual conference in San Francisco with an 14-foot-tall cage symbolizing ICE detention to protest the companys contract with Customs and Border Protection. More than 600 employees signed a letter this summer calling on CEO Marc Benioff to end the contract. Benioff has said the company does not work with ICE.As we get more and more cities on board it starts to add upand hopefully we get these guys to back away from ICE, said Brian Hofer of Deport ICE, who is also chairman of the Oakland Privacy Commission. We just want to get regional buy-in power.ICE on Wednesday said it would continue routine operations and declined to comment further.Data brokers collect information, such as credit history, drivers license data, phone accounts, court records and employment information, and sell it to other businesses or government agencies. The ordinance defines extreme vetting as data-mining, threat modeling, predictive risk analysis, or other similar service.Richmonds ordinance would eventually end the citys contract with Vigilant Solutions, which collects license plate data in conjunction with law enforcement and other agencies throughout the nation, according to the companys website. ICE signed a contract in December with West Publishing, which is partnering with Vigilant Solutions.Richmond Mayor Tom Butt cast the only dissenting vote on the policy, calling it a feel-good ordinance that has no substantive effect on making the immigrant community safer. He also said it could bring unintended consequence because the police department relies on Vigilant for license plate data to combat crime, according to Butt. That will end when the city cuts ties with the company  which has said it does not share license plate data with ICE.Its a question of whether you want to shoot yourself in the foot to make a point, said Butt.Richmond has been a leader in its immigration policy, Butt continued. Were also a city that has a high crime rate. By far the highest priority of Richmond residents is public safety. Were between a rock and a hard place. Do we diminish our commitment to public safety or do we go with our commitment to make a statement about the immigrant community?Vigilant said agency-collected data, belongs to the agency, and it is up to the agency to share with other agencies, as permissible by federal and state laws and agency policy. Spokeswoman Mary Alice Johnson didnt confirm its partnership with Richmond police and said the company doesnt comment on any of its contracts or clients.Eunice Hernandez, an organizer with Sacred Heart Community Service in San Jose, said advocates hope to meet with council members to come to discuss the policy.Weve been hearing from our community members that its great that the city and county arent working directly with ICE, but theyre still concerned about our information  who has access to it and where its going, she said.
(TNS) - The Federal Emergency Management Agency has approved more than $18 million to reimburse Jacksonville State University for replacing Hugh Merrill Hall, which was damaged during the tornado and severe weather that struck earlier this year.The EF-3 tornado touched down on March 19 on the JSU campus, and severe storms on March 19 and 20 caused significant damage in Calhoun, Cullman, Etowah and St. Clair counties.The tornado caused an estimated $70 million in damages to the campus and surrounding areas, and damaged 50 of 70 structures on the JSU campus.The university plans to demolish Merrill Hall and rebuild it.FEMA issued a news release Thursday announcing the grant, which is being provided through the agency's public assistance program. Through this program, FEMA can reimburse eligible applicants for up to 75 percent of the costs taken to recover from a natural disaster. Remaining costs must be covered by non-federal sources.The funding will be administered through the Alabama Emergency Management Agency, which will distribute the funds following its review process and upon receipt of appropriate documents from the school.2018 Alabama Media Group, BirminghamVisit Alabama Media Group, Birmingham at www.al.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
(TNS)  Erie, Pa.'s status as a smart city is poised to take on new meaning thanks to the National League of Cities, the Erie Innovation District and Velocity Network.The Innovation District, which now provides free Wi-Fi in Perry Square, is expected to develop a plan during 2019 to roll out free wireless internet that could eventually blanket the city of Erie, said Karl Sanchack, the organization's CEO.Sanchack, who spoke Tuesday in Erie at the fall conference of the Pennsylvania Economic Development Association, said the impetus for that initiative came from a call from the National League of Cities, which represents 19,000 cities and towns across the United States.In partnership with the philanthropic organization Schmidt Futures, the league announced in June that it was creating a new program, City Innovation Ecosystems, which is dedicated to helping cities thrive in the modern economy.According to the NLC website, "The program marks a major new push by NLC to support regional entrepreneurship, innovation and STEM pathways in a time when too few cities are fully participating in the high-tech, global economy."Sanchack, whose organization is led by Mercyhurst University, said the National League of Cities encouraged him to apply."They had been watching us for six months and liked what we were doing," he said.When the National League of Cities announces its showcase of 15 projects in November, a project to provide Wi-Fi for the city of Erie and to develop an educational track for students of the Erie School District will be one of the projects highlighted, Sanchack said.Sanchack said part of the goal, working in conjunction with Mercyhurst, is to develop a curriculum for Erie students to follow a specialty educational track that would provide select students with a basic certification in information technology that could lead to an entry-level job or credit that could be transferred to college.None of this will happen overnight.Sanchack said he expects that with the help of member organizations and a professor on loan from Mercyhurst University that the Innovation District will develop a plan over the next 12 months.The nature of the arrangement with the National League of Cities suggests there might be philanthropic help if it's needed, he said.Sanchack said it's likely that the Wi-Fi would be offered initially in the federal Opportunity Zones, where the need is greatest and there is a tax incentive to spur investment.Timothy Wachter, who is both the lawyer for the school district and is working with the city on the Opportunity Zone plans, spoke Tuesday about the benefit that could be provided to students and praised Velocity Network for its act of corporate citizenship."I think this is a great philanthropic gift to the city of Erie," he said.Joel Deuterman, whose company provided Wi-Fi in Perry Square, stressed, however, that he's happy to pay for the ongoing costs associated with providing Wi-Fi, but that his company will need help building the infrastructure.The cost of building infrastructure in Perry Square was about $300,000. It will likely cost several million dollars to bring fiber optics and equipment to some of the most underserved areas of Erie, he said."We can provide the bandwidth with no limits on usage at no charge," he said. "That is something we are happy to do. If it were not for Erie, we would not exist. We are all blessed."But building the network will take time and money, he said.Once the work has been done, "Velocity will happily turn on the faucet," he said. "Whoever wants to drink, can drink."
No sharing required

How to register your cameras

Go to the Wentzville police website to register cameras there, or call 636-639-2100 for more information.

Go to Florissant's website to register cameras there, or call 314-831-7000 for more information.

Go to the O'Fallon, Ill., police website to register cameras there, or call 618-624-4545 for more information.

(TNS)  One of the first things Wentzville, Mo., detectives did when 13 cars were broken into one recent night was look for residential surveillance cameras  and they didnt have to leave police headquarters.They turned to a growing database they created about a year ago that tracks video security systems that homeowners have registered with the department. When they saw a few residents in the neighborhood had cameras, they contacted those homeowners to check footage from the previous night.Within hours, the police had images, a more accurate time frame for when the crimes happened, a vehicle description, a number of suspects and a map of their steps through the neighborhood that officers could retrace and search for evidence.Though the strategy on that particular series of break-ins has not led to an arrest, police say it illustrates how the spread of affordable home surveillance systems has shifted the way they do business. Camera systems once priced only for the business market are now giving police an edge when it comes to investigating crime in neighborhoods.Even if footage fails to capture a criminals face, it can help police pinpoint the time of a crime, retrace a criminals steps or get vehicle descriptions and license plate numbers. Immediate knowledge about where cameras are posted saves time and narrows the typical neighborhood canvas for officers, Wentzville Chief Kurt Frisz said.It takes the neighborhood watch concept to a whole new level as far as using technology, Frisz said. Any department would be wise to set up a program like this. These resources are out there that you might as well tap.In Florissant, one man had an alert sent to his cellphone when a camera detected motion in his backyard while he was at work. He called police and emailed them an image of a man breaking into his shed. Armed with the description, police arrested a suspect on the same street, solving one burglary and preventing another, according to Florissant Public Information Officer Mike Lewis.Demand for smart home security systems is expected to increase 26 percent in the U.S. in 2018, with $3.4 billion in sales by the end of this year and $4.8 billion by 2025, according to Freedonia, a Cleveland-based industry research firm. Some insurance companies offer discounts to homeowners who put up cameras.In Florissant, Lewis said, residents are outfitting their homes for $200.Its kind of trending right now to put cameras on your house, and its just a bonus to have that footage and coverage help the local police department, he said.Registering cameras with the police is voluntary, and even after registration, residents are not required to share footage with police. In addition, police do not have access to the cameras to watch crime, or life, as it happens  aspects lauded by civil liberties groups in communities that have registration programs across the country.In addition to Wentzville and Florissant, police in OFallon, Ill., offer a camera registration program. Nationwide, the programs have popped up in Chicago, California, Texas, Oregon and other states.Camera footage may be a deterrent to future crimes, police say.Thats because availability of video footage and still images is leading to some additional media coverage and social media publicity of minor crimes. When criminals see themselves or others caught on camera, it could make them think twice about returning to a neighborhood known for having cameras.Even police departments that dont have registration programs have posted footage and images from private cameras. In St. Louis, one car break-in victim mounted a camera from her rear-view mirror capturing clear images of the burglars.In St. Louis County, police posted footage from a camera that captured a man who may be attempting to burglarize homes.At least one company invites camera owners to register their cameras online, even if their police department doesnt have a registration program. The company will notify local departments about interest in doing so.But some investigators and police experts caution that public sharing of camera footage quickly after crimes could possibly taint witness testimony.For that reason, Wentzville police have not posted footage of the 13 car break-ins and several other crimes in which residential cameras have played a key role in the investigations, said Jake Schmidt, public information officer.You can also register cameras online and notify police departments without registration programs that you are interested in doing so.He calls the release of such footage crime commercials.If we put a crime commercial out too soon, it could mess with the investigation, so we might hold it a little closer and work the investigation, he said. But if we get stuck and there is nothing else, we will put out a crime commercial.Drew Bass doorbell camera captured images of some of the thieves who broke into the 13 cars, including his, in Wentzville. His camera is registered with the police department, and detectives reviewed his footage. It helped police narrow the time frame, count the thieves and retrace their steps.Bass said he was planning to spend $500 to equip the perimeter of his house with cameras, and wants to make them visible. He believes cameras will deter criminal activity. He should know. He said he used to break into cars.In the past I got locked up for doing the same thing, but I would never do that now, he said. There are so many cameras out there. It makes it a lot harder to get away with now.Hes hoping catching criminals in the act could lead to better outcomes for them.For me, it took getting caught. Had I not been caught, I wouldnt be here right now.
(TNS)  For those wary of phishing emails, scammer phone calls wanting your Social Security number and ransomware locking down vital computer files, the University of North Georgia is partnering with the FBI to send out a statewide cyber-threat survey in early 2019.Bryson Payne, UNG professor and Center for Cyber Operations Education Director, said the university worked on a brief pilot survey sent to 33 organizations to determine what are the kinds of threats that they are facing in their organizations (and) where are those threats coming from.With that pilot that we just ran through the Atlanta cyber summit, we are expanding to produce a survey for businesses and organizations all over the state of Georgia. It will be the first of its kind state-level survey. Its a joint effort between an FBI field office and a university, Payne said.In March, the city of Atlanta government fell victim to a ransomware cyber-attack, where some information across the citys applications was encrypted and inaccessible. Dawson County government was also targeted in a cyber attack in April.UNG is considered by the NSA and Department of Homeland Security as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education.For the average consumer, Payne said it will help people stay vigilant on what threats are out there.Besides ransomware, which everyone sees in the news, we have a lot of phone-based scams, where people are using robo-dialers to call people to try and get them to give out personal information like their usernames, passwords or Social Security numbers, Payne said.Payne said the FBI field office in Atlanta was interested in assessing the state of cyber threats in Georgia and getting information on what the most pressing threats are, specific to Atlanta, to the state of Georgia and the companies and organizations in the state.The full distribution list is still being determined, but Payne said it will go to hospitals, energy companies, municipalities, county governments, law enforcement and businesses of all sizes in early 2019.What we hope to do is educate all the users about the kinds of threats they need to be looking for based on what their peers are seeing across the state, and we want to get an accurate picture for law enforcement, for cybersecurity professionals of what the upcoming threats are that they should be watching for, he said.
African American Cultural Center development

Communication design with the Development Services Department

Customer experience during the Airport Phase II Improvements

Digital inclusion in collaboration with the Technology and Innovation Department

Enhancing Long Beach Police recruitment

Nuisance Motels Pilot Program

Prototyping solutions with Clean Long Beach

Smart Cities Pilot with Public Works and Economic Development

San Antonio Hosts Citys First SmartSA Datathon

Washington, D.C., Gigabit DC Challenge Seeks Mobility Solutions

Chicago Launches its Annual Flu Shot Data Set

6 Political Organizing Tactics Useful in Civic Tech

Long Beach, Calif., has established a new office of civic innovation within its city managers office, according to a press release from the city.Technologists in the office will serve as in-house consultants to other departments, with a goal of co-creating effective approaches to pressing community issues. The creation of this office comes at the end of a three-year, $3 million grant for the city through a Bloomberg Philanthropies Innovation Team Grant. That money went toward the funding and creation of the Long Beach iTeam, whose work, the city notes, will now evolve through the new Office of Civic Innovation.The citys press release went on to outline the efforts and departments the new office expects to coordinate with in FY 2019. They are:The press release also notes that Bloomberg Philanthropies continues to invest in innovation in Long Beach through other initiatives, including the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative, What Works Cities and Cities of Service.This is the last week for civic technologists to submit projects to the first-ever SmartSA Datathon competition.That competition, the deadline for which is midnight Oct. 8, involves the CivTechSA and SmartSA programs partnering to share data sets with the public, who is then invited to use those data sets to propose projects to improve quality of life in the city. The competition is requesting projects be related to three specific areas: transportation, access to services and sustainability. Organizers are requiring teams to be limited to six members.Eventually, organizers will select as many as seven teams to participate in the Datathon, scheduled for Oct. 19-21 at Geekdom San Antonio. Eligible teams will have a chance to win up to $15,000 as well as to partner with SmartSA to further develop their proposals and ideas.Interested parties can apply here The Washington, D.C., Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) is inviting developers and entrepreneurs in the metro area to compete in its Gigabit DC Challenge (GigabitDCx), which is looking for next-generation apps focused on the areas of city mobility and the environment.Its really the same sort of idea as San Antonios Datathon, in that its essentially a competition inviting civic technologists to create something that improves life in the city. The GigabitDCx is, according to its website , a two-phased, reverse pitch competition in which competitors will submit proposals to develop and demonstrate gigabit app solutions in described focus areas.The second phase of this competition will see semi-finalists advancing their projects to the point of building prototypes of their proposed solutions. Those selected by organizers will next have a chance to get one of two final prizes, splitting as much as $34,000 in award money.In service of developing the projects, participants in the GigabitDCx competition will have mentors as well as access to subject matter experts throughout the process. The competition is currently in its pre-registration phase. It will open for applicants Oct. 12.In the meantime, interested parties can find a forum and online community via the competition's website.Flu season in Chicago is rapidly approaching, and to combat it the city has once again released a data set of flu shot locations.Chicago has done this annually dating back to 2014  its a listing of free clinics where residents in Chicago can get flu shots, created as a collaboration between Chicagos data folks and the citys department of public health.Its all open source and can be found here Finally, Id just like to call attention this week to a great piece for civic technologists, Bringing Political Organizing Tactics to Civic Tech The piece was authored by Veronica Young, who worked on President Obamas 2012 re-election campaign, and its essentially a primer for civic technologists about how to use successful political organizing strategies to forward their own work.There are several strong and clear recommendations, including have a strong, engaging mission; set deadlines; appoint a political director; hold events; and know that turnover is normal. The piece, of course, goes into far more detail, but its all aimed at helping civic technologists build the sort of viable connections and mission statements they need to make a positive difference in their communities.
On October 2, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and President, Xi Jinping, sent a message of condolence to Secretary of the CPV Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong.

In his message, General Secretary Xi expressed his deep condolences to CPV, the Government, Vietnamese people, and the family of comrade Do Muoi. The Chinese top leader hailed former Party chief as an outstanding senior leader of the Vietnamese Party and State, a close comrade and friend of the Chinese Party and people, who dedicated his life to the cause of renovation and socialism building in Vietnam and made important contributions to the ties between the two Parties and States.

General Secretary Xi expressed his belief that under the firm leadership of the Vietnamese General Secretary, the CPV, Government and people of Vietnam will turn sorrow into power, continuing to reap new achievements in the cause of socialism building. China pledges to unceasingly foster the China-Vietnam traditional friendship, deepen mutually-beneficial cooperation and promote the healthy and stable development of bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, he said.

Also on October 2, the Central Committee of the Lao Peoples Revolutionary Party, National Assembly, Government and Central Committee of the Lao Front for National Construction sent condolences to the CPV Central Committee, the National Assembly, the Government and the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee.

Their messages expressed profound condolences from Lao leaders and people to the passing away of comrade Do Muoi, who was also former member of the CPV Central Committee and former member of the Politburo.

The Lao side spoke highly of comrade Do Muois huge contributions to national liberation and development over his 80 years of revolutionary career. The deceased was lauded for reinforcing great friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two Parties, States and peoples.

With comrade Do Muois passing, the Party, State and people of Vietnam have lost a beloved leader and a consistent communist; and also the Party, State and people of Laos have lost a close friend, the messages read.

On October 2, the Central Committee of the Cambodian Peoples Party sent a message to General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee, Nguyen Phu Trong, expressing their condolences on the passing of former General Secretary Do Muoi a day earlier.

The message hailed the former senior leader for his important contributions to the cause of Vietnams building and developing, saying that his passing away is a loss for the Party, State and people of Vietnam.

The Cambodian People's Party Central Committee would like to send to the Party, the Government, the Vietnamese people, and the relatives of comrade Do Muoi the deepest condolences and pray that his soul rest in eternity, the message stated.
Sergey Sirotkin says he would like to stay at Williams in 2019.

Days ago, the boss of the Russian driver's major sponsor, SMP Bank, said he is not sure if the backing of the struggling British team will continue.

And at Sochi, Sirotkin's management was spotted in conversation with Dr Helmut Marko, triggering rumours he and SMP might be eyeing a move to Toro Rosso.

"So far nothing has been decided," Sirotkin said in Japan.

"I repeat that I am together with the team and together we want to get out of the situation that we find ourselves in."

He admitted that SMP Racing, headed by Boris Rotenberg, is concerned about Williams' 2019 form.

"I think both SMP Racing and I have the same answer -- we want to be doing better than we are doing now. But the last thing I want to do in our situation is say we give up.

"We have already made great efforts, so I don't see the logic in stopping now without achieving a result," Sirotkin added.

(GMM)
Representatives from the State Power Investment Corporation (SPIC) Research Institute of China recently visited Sandia National Laboratories to discuss research capabilities, interests, and potential for collaborative research between the two entities.

Sandia researchers discussed the hydrogen and fuel cells program, experimental research on liquid hydrogen behavior, the HyRAM toolkitthe first software system that helps quantify the risk of hydrogen infrastructure, and hydrogen fueling station infrastructure research and station technology.

The group also toured the sites Turbulent Combustion Laboratory.
The mission held one minutes silence and offered incense in memory of the former Party leader. Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy, Head of the Permanent Delegation of Vietnam to the UN, recalled contributions of the leader during more than 70 years serving the CPV and the country.

Many overseas Vietnamese, foreign ambassadors and representatives from delegations to the UN, international organisations in New York and local officials came to the missions headquarters to pay respect to the former Vietnamese Party chief.

Officials and staff at Vietnams permanent mission to the UN hold one minute's silence in memory of the former Party leader. (Photo: VNA)

Former General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee Do Muoi was born on February 2, 1917, in Dong My commune, Thanh Tri district, Hanoi. He passed away in Hanoi on October 1 at the age of 101 due to serious illness. He served as General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee from June 1991 to December 1997, and was presented with an insignia of 80-year Party membership.

Vietnam will hold a State funeral and two days of national mourning for him on October 6 and 7.
News

Australia to start COVID-19 vaccination drive for children under 12

Health Minister Greg Hunt said medical regulators are still reviewing the health and safety data for the vaccinations to be administered for children between the ages of five and 11 and are unlikely to decide this year.




Haiti - ALERT : Navigation not recommended on the North and South coasts of Haiti





Due to the marine weather conditions, small boats are not recommended to venture off the north and south coasts of Haiti, where the sea has been rough since yesterday and again this Friday.



The marine weather bulletin of the Haiti Hydro Weather Unit (UHM) predicts that a wind from the eastern sector is expected to blow at a speed of 10 (18.5 km / h) at 15 knots (27.7 km / h)on the northern coastal zone. The waves could reach 1.00m to 1.20m high near the coast and up to 2.10m offshore. On the south coast, small boats will also have to take precautions near the coast, especially during stormy showers.



In addition, the NOTICE of risk of floods and landslides, launched Wednesday https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25714-haiti-notice-weather-risks-of-floods-and-landslides.html is maintained due to significant thunderstorms expected especially in the South of the country, during the next three days.



The current weather situation is favored by instability related to an area of bad weather, which was located this morning in southwestern Jamaica and a tropical wave focused on Puerto Rico.



The authorities are asking people in areas at risk of flooding, rocks fall and landslides to remain attentive and to apply rigorously the usual safety instructions in case of showers, especially strong and lasting, accompanied by thunderstorms.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25714-haiti-notice-weather-risks-of-floods-and-landslides.html



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - News : Zapping...





Toxic gas, 18 victims to PAP

On Thursday morning, one person died and more than 17 others were reportedly poisoned after inhaling a poisonous gas at magasin de lEtat Street. According to a source close to the Ministry of Public Health, the gas could be "nitrous oxide" that comes from a garage in the area. Most of the intoxicated people are currently in the general hospital. Epidemiological surveillance officers were deployed on site.



Towards a reduction in commodity prices

On Thursday, President Jovenel Moise accompanied by Prime Minister Jean Henry Ceant met with the main producers and importers of basic products. This preparatory meeting took place with a view to reducing commodity prices for the benefit of consumers.



Diaspora : Dominique Anglade re-elected Member of Parliament

Haitian-Canadian Dominique Anglade of the Liberal Party of Quebec is again the Deputy of the Saint-Henri Saint-Anne riding of Quebec, winning the elections with nearly 38.01% of the vote. However, her Party has been largely defeated in the provincial elections, promising its voters to stay in opposition and keeping education as a priority.



PNH warns protesters

Michel-Ange Louis Jeune, the spokesperson of the National Police of Haiti (PNH), warns all those who would be tempted to sow disorder during the protests with various claims, scheduled for October 17 in several places in the country that they will all be arrested.



Budget delay is not a problem...

Guichard Dore, President Moise's Special Adviser, states that the Government is working on the 2018-2019 draft budget, assures that, despite the delay in filing which should have been in operation on 1 October, the amending budget will make it possible to operate until the vote the next budget, which should be finalized by the end of October...



Towards the application of the PIDCP

Thursday at the Mariott Hotel, Prime Minister Jean Henry Ceant participated in the opening of the consultation workshop on the periodic report of application of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). In his speech Ceant said "[...] the administration Moise/Ceant is convinced that the civil, political, social, economic rights form an indivisible whole [...] The Government that I have the privilege to direct is convinced that, without the respect of these rights, no development action can be achieved."



HL/ HaitiLibre


















In his work Better Fewer, But Better published on March 2, 1923, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin raised the matter of combining a Party institution with a Government institution. He asked How can a Party institution be amalgamated with a Soviet institution? and Is not this flexible amalgamation of a Soviet institution with a Party institution a source of great strength in our politics?

Lenin required serious research in order to reorganise the leadership institutions in a way that was fewer but better. He stated that  only by thoroughly purging our government machine, by reducing it to the utmost everything that is not absolutely essential in it, shall we be certain of being able to keep going.

The aforementioned guidelines by Lenin are significant to the science of leadership, management and organisation.

In fact, in Russia and the former Soviet Union, the highest leaders of the Party also held the highest positions of the State. Lenin was the supreme leader of the Party and concurrently Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1924.

During the 1924-1953 period, Joseph Stalin was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) and concurrently Chairman of the Council of Ministers. During the years 1953 to 1991, the CPSU General Secretaries all held the posts of Chairman of the Council of Ministers or Chairman of the Supreme Soviet.

After 1991, the countries that remained steadfast on the socialist path have all deployed an organisational model that combines the Party and State leadership positions.

In China, the General Secretary of the Communist Party is also the Chairman of the Central Military Commission. In Cuba, the First Secretary of the Party Central Committee also serves as the President of the Council of State and President of the Council of Ministers. In Laos, the General Secretary is also the President and the Secretary of a province is also its Governor.

In other countries, the leader of a ruling Party directly holds the state apparatus. The Secretary-General of the ruling Party in Singapore is naturally the countrys Prime Minister. The President of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in Japan heads the countrys cabinet. The President of the Cambodian Peoples Party is concurrently the Prime Minister.

Many countries in Europe and other regions of the world also share a similar organisational structure. The amalgamation of the ruling Party post with the State post is clearly common around the world, which both strengthens the position of the ruling Party and enhances the management responsibility of the State.

In Vietnam, with the victory of the August Revolution (in 1945), the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was born. President Ho Chi Minh, the supreme leader of the Party and Chairman of the Party Central Committee from February 1951, was also President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam until his passing on September 2, 1969.

During the Doi Moi (renovation) period, the Party and State incessantly built the Party and the State and refined the political system. With the building of the socialist-oriented market, the law-governed socialist State of the people, by the people and for the people, and with increasingly deeper integration, the matter of combining the posts of General Secretary and President have been put forward several times but the necessary conditions were inadequate.

Now the conditions on the role and responsibility of the ruling Party and the construction and operation of a law-governed socialist State are mature, and with the consensus within the Party, especially the Party Central Committee and the highest leaders of the Party and State, the combination of the top Party and State positions can be afforded.

First, that the General Secretary is also the President will enhance the Partys leadership over the State and properly implements Article 4 of the 2013 Constitution. Since 1945, the Communist Party has been the ruling Party, leading the State. Such a leadership role has been affirmed in practice and is closely connected with the development and victory of the Vietnamese revolution and the development of the State. Article 4 of the Constitutions of 1980, 1992 and 2013 all affirm that the Communist Party of Vietnam is the force leading the State and society. The Partys leadership role is enshrined in the Constitution.

One of the characteristics of the Vietnamese socialist model is building a law-governed socialist State led by the Communist Party. That leadership is a principle and has been continually solidified and strengthened in line with the Party platform and the Constitution promulgated by the State. The Party leads the State, decides on domestic and external issues, as well as the structural organisation of the State apparatus; inspects and supervises the States operations; leads the process in which the State realises the platform and guidelines of the Party, and mobilises and organises the people to take part in State building and management.

Second, that the General Secretary is also the President will enhance the position of the State leader in exercising the duties and rights enshrined in the Constitution. The President is the head of State, representing the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in domestic and external affairs.

Provisions in Articles 86 to 93 of the 2013 Constitution on the role, duty and rights of the President will be implemented better when the President is also the General Secretary, directly implementing the Partys leadership, and thoroughly grasping the platform, guidelines and viewpoints of the Party.

The person who holds both the posts of General Secretary and President is required to have the necessary quality, qualifications, capacity and reputation in order to successfully assume the two roles of Party leadership and State power exercise. This affirms and increases the responsibility of the leader and requires the refinement of the organisational apparatus of the Party and State at all levels, as well as the political system that was outlined in the Resolution of the 12th Central Committees 6th Plenum and is currently being implemented.

Third, attention should be paid to refining the mechanisms and methods to inspect, supervise and control power so as to guarantee the utmost efficiency of the leadership and management. Some have expressed concern regarding power control when one person holds the top positions of the Party and State.

In most countries, there are regulations on and bodies in charge of controlling power in order to prevent the abuse of power. In Vietnam, the Resolution of the 12th Central Committees 4th Plenum also puts an emphasis on control of power. It must come from the platform, charter and regulations of the Party, including those on the responsibility to set examples of officials, Party members, especially Politburo members, the Secretariat and the Central Committee.

Power is controlled by the Constitution and laws, inspection and supervisory bodies, all officials, Party members and the people. Control is also exercised within the state apparatus, the legislative, the executive and the judicial bodies. This will prevent the corruption of power. The most important aspect is that the entire Party, State apparatus, political system and people are able to choose a competent, virtuous, responsible and esteemed leader who is truly devoted to the country and people.
Influence of Law Clerks at SCOTUS

Dear Editor, October 18, 2018

Something few may know: Law clerks hired by the U.S. Supreme Court heavily influence which cases are granted a Writ of Certiorari by Justices. Fairly recent law school graduates are placed in a common law clerk Cert Pool. Each Justice may read filed Petitions; however, the majority relies on the Cert Pools short memoranda, which recommends acceptance or denial of a case.

Former Whitewater independent counsel, Kenneth Star, wrote in a 2006 Minnesota law journal that these Law Clerks are young and inexperienced, yet it is their job to seek out and destroy" what they consider undeserving Petitions. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has warned these Law Clerks to be carefully judicious when disposing of cases. Today, these Clerks reduce 10,000 filed petitions to approximately 100 (that figure fluctuates but the percentage is always about the same).

Justice Alito and Justice Gorsuch opted out of this Cert Pool process. Given the others heavy reliance on "Cert Pool" recommendations, the Senate should vet SCOTUS Law Clerks if they are concerned about the direction in which Supreme Court decisions are headed.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh served as a Law Clerk for Justice Anthony Kennedy, 25 years ago, and that mattered to no one. Justice Kagen, former Dean of Harvard Law School, hired him as a Law Professor. Not a ripple or whisper of protest. Why now?

The vetting process should be comprehensive and relevant. Law Clerks who are integral to Supreme Court decisions, are not vetted at all for their positions on matters that affect all of us in our daily lives. Until those protesting Kavanaughs appointment to the Supreme Court address this lack of accountability on the part of SCOTUS Law Clerks, attacks seem disingenuous and completely political.

Sincerely,

Kahala Motoyama

Manoa Valley, Oahu

* * * * *

1978 Delegate: New ConCon Needed

Dear Editor, October 12, 2018

I was a delegate to the 1978 con con. I totally support another gathering and see many issues to be addressed including IR&R. The article in the paper has not addressed the issues at all but the sides lining up of pro and con. In a poll taken recently 60% of voters were in favor of one.

To better get a feeling we as former delegates meet sometimes for reunions. Former Governor Waihee Mayor Jaremy Harris and many others started from that forum in 1978 and few politicians elected then ran as they saw a conflict.

We delegates are few now but do like the process to continue.

In 1968 my dad Rep Ike Sutton was in that con con and as a representative in the legislature did not run for the later one which elected officials stayed out of to a large degree.

I did as a 24 year old. It was voted for in the general of 1976 to have another gathering. A special election was held to vote for delegates- two from most legislative districts or about 102 delegates.

One of the remaining issues that did not pass was that of Initiative Referendum and Recall which are available to the counties for citizens to use to enjoy participating in law making. California is better known for its propositions on ballots. Ours are electorate is far from the participation of unelected officials and with such a one party domination of the government here few voices are geared in the public arena of laws passing.

Warner Kimo Sutton

Honolulu, Oahu

Delegate, 1978 Constitutional Convention

* * * * *

Low voter turnout gives special interests even more power

Dear Editor, October 8, 2018

Hawaii has had the lowest voter turnout in all 50 states! Various reasons have been given but the real reason is that voters have lost hope or fled the state. Despite politicians promises, it has been decades of the double whammies of low wages and high cost of living. Today, Hawaii young couples can even remember not only their parents but their grandparents having had to work the now sad standard 3 to 4 jobs between a couple  JUST TO MAKE ENDS MEET.

Political solutions have simply made the problems worse over all. Most Hawaii politicians campaign that their constituents get a larger slice of the small pie rather than increasing the size of the pie for everybody.

Things will not get better if the trend continues because low voter turnout gives special interests even more power (less voters to manipulate and cheaper to buy politicians).

Hope in the Vote!

Leighton Loo

Mililani, Oahu

* * * * *

'Shut Up': Why people elected Trump

Dear Editor, October 6, 2018

Over the past weeks we have watched a truly shameful exercise of partisan politics as an outstanding judge, legal scholar, husband, father and patriot had his name dragged through the mud, his family actually threatened with violence, his record be-smudged...and all in the name, not of justice or fairness, but of a blatant partisan attempt to protect one small but very financial valuable support group  pro-abortion Planned Parenthood.

Will Judge Kavanaugh ever rule on the Constitutionality of Roe v Wade? Who knows. Will he, as he has proven throughout a long and extremely distinguished judicial career, rule with wisdom, compassion, respect for people, the law and the Constitution? Yes. Will he hold to the most basic principle of American justice  one he was not accorded by our own Senator  that one is innocent until proven guilty? Absolutely. This man is among the most qualified we have ever had to consider for the Supreme Court. And we have reduced the nomination and confirmation process to an embarrassing circus of smears, innuendos, political grandstanding and downright hateful attacks.

The Democrat Leader of the Senate announced he would oppose President Trumps nominee regardless of who it was before they were even announced! That is partisanship at its worse. That is why so many people believe Washington is broken, that The Swamp needs to be drained. That attitude and behavior is, in fact, exactly why the people elected Donald Trump President.

Hawaiis legislators share a large part of the blame. Is telling men, all men, that they have to shut up an example of the Aloha Spirit? Is denouncing an FBI investigation that your party demanded, the 7th such investigation of Brett Kavanaugh, an honest, mature reaction when you dont like the findings? Of course not. Hawaii should be an example of Aloha. Hawaiis legislators should be models to the rest of the country, the rest of the world, in civility, kindness, courtesy  the Hawaiian Way  the Aloha Spirit.

I am running for the United States Congress, not the Senate. I will not be in a position to vote on a Supreme Court nominee. But I offer my solemn promise to the people of Hawaii that I will not embarrass my state, not embarrass the Hawaiian people. Not embarrass the Aloha Spirit. Its time Hawaii showed the world, and the rest of America, the Hawaiian Way.

Sincerely,

Cam Cavasso, Republican Candidate for US Congress, CD1

Honolulu, Oahu

* * * * *

"TEACH YOUR CHILDREN"

Dear Editor, October 1 2018

This past weeks public lynching of Donald Trumps Supreme Court Nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, by demented Democrat Senate Judicial Committee members, including Hawaiis own Crazy Mazie Hirono, went beyond the pale in destroying not only what was left of comity in the U.S. Senate, but attempting to destroy an innocent public servant and his family.

Now, before Hawaiis progressive left collectively snort their mornings latte out of their nostrils, let me be very clear; I believe this progressive insistence on espousing a toxic femininity as official American policy is destroying our country and our young men. Since when is any American automatically guilty of sexual harassment based upon vague recollections that devolve into obviously unprovable, 36-year-old allegations, denied by all people claimed present by the accuser, Christine Blasey Ford? What exactly do you expect a reasonable person to conclude from her testimony?

Despite senator Diane Feinsteins blatant 11th hour political stunt in withholding the Ford accusation letter from the Committee, prior to Judge Kavanaghs 30-hours of hearings, the Republican Chairman of the Senate Judicial Committee, Senator Grassley, bent over backwards to allow the charges by Mrs. Ford to be heard. Clearly, Mrs. Fords testimony was ultimately unable to prove her contentions as credible even before Judge Kavanaugh could so eruditely refute them in his rebuttal. Mrs. Ford was unable to testify credibly as to the when, the where or to the whom of her accusations against Judge Kavanagh. Mrs. Ford unequivocally failed to meet any reasonable burden of proof regarding her allegations. American jurisprudence is based upon the common-sense guiding principle of innocence until PROVEN guilty, NOT guilt automatically proven by mere accusation. Let us not forget the fact that Judge Kavanagh passed 6 full FBI clearances in his long history of public service. Not a scintilla of this type of behavior has ever been uncovered. Progressive Democrats are now advocating turning the Constitution on its head just to advance their hate-filled political agenda, an outgrowth of losing the 2016 Presidential election.

Just because a woman makes a decades old allegation of sexual misconduct against someone, that does not mean those accusations are automatically credible. I do not know the truth of the Ford allegations, but I am neither Solomon nor God, and neither are the mad Democrat progressive Senators who condemn him. Without corroborative evidence Judge Kavanagh must be presumed innocent. Hating men and presuming guilt due to Judge Kavanaughs gender is both dystopian and horrific in its implications for American justice and society at large. Crazy Mazie Hironos advocating guilt by accusation and gender, her toxic femininity, is more in keeping with an ancient Grecian Priestess of the cult of Isis rather than a modern American judicial principle worthy of emulation.

Watching as Democrat Senators and their media propagandists dig up and then regurgitate spurious, salacious, unprovable and politically motivated allegations against a decent man, Judge Kavanaugh, is a thoroughly teachable moment for Hawaiis youth and any honest observer. Loony left progressives in the Democrat Party have shown themselves to be mad, power hungry, hateful beings who would destroy anyone who has the temerity to espouse traditional, conservative, Christian beliefs simply because they contradict their sick personal progressive philosophies, and their dying political power base. Their treatment of Judge Kavanagh was more in keeping with a 60s era Soviet show-trial than an American Congressional hearing.

In my youth I was a neighbor of an older couple who had fled Hitlers Nazi Germany right after Kristallnacht. Nearly 50 years later, their warning to me, rings true in this time. They could not believe how their country could turn towards a violent, evil philosophy seemingly out of the blue, but it did. Their warning to me was as clear as it was chilling. Do not believe that America is immune from that type of evil, it can happen here, and in a relative instant. That progressive Democrats today would hasten this evil in America is indeed a chilling development, one that behooves us to teach our children to recognize the hate and evil endemic in progressive political philosophy.

Mahalo & May God Bless Hawaii & America,

Alfred P. Sarmento

Kekaha, Kauai
In his article in tribute to the passing of former Party chief Do Muoi, Pham The Duyet, who is also former Secretary of the Hanoi city Party Committee, stressed that during the process of national construction, comrade Do Muoi was assigned to work in major economic areas such as industry, trade and construction.

Therefore, he contributed to a majority of key projects across cities and provinces, including the Pha Lai, Uong Bi and Ninh Binh thermal power plants; Song Da, Yaly, Son La and Tri An hydropower plants; and Bach Ho, Nam Con Son, and Dai Hung oil fields.

Over the course of years serving as Vice Chairman of the Council of Ministers, comrade Do Muoi made significant contributions to the construction of Mao Khe coal mine and Thang Long bridge.

Duyet, who worked with Do Muoi for decades, said that the former Party leader had strong determination to frame practice with theory. Even upon retirement, Do Muoi continued to call on his successors to pay attention to the global situation, particularly the valuable lessons to be learnt from the Colour Revolution in the Middle East and North Africa, in order to remain alert.

Comrade Do Muoi was not only a resilient communist soldier but also a leader who attached great enthusiasm towards reforming the country.

Duyet recalled a time when he was serving as the Secretary of Hanoi Party Committee, when Ton That Bach was nominated to serve as the Rector of Hanoi Medical University but received different opinions since Bach was not a Party member. However, the proposal gained instant support from comrade Do Muoi.

This proved that comrade Do Muoi had thoroughly grasped President Ho Chi Minhs ideas on respecting talented people, regardless of whether they were Party or non-Party members.

In the early 1990s of the last century, the Hanoi city authorities mapped out the planning project for Hoa Lo prison, under which a part of the area was dedicated to historical relics, while the rest was used to host the construction of a complex of offices, hotels, and a trade centre.

Initially, the project encountered strong opposition from many senior war revolutionary veterans, especially from those who had been detained at the prison by the French colonialists. The city Party Committee held a number of meetings and tried in vain to convince the former Hoa Lo prisoners. It wasnt until former Party General Secretary Do Muoi, who was also a former political prisoner at Hoa Lo, explained to his comrades, that the war veterans finally gave their approval for the project.

Duyet reminisced that, in 1997, when Pham The Duyet was currently Head of the Party Central Committees Commission for Mass Mobilisation, he had paid a working trip to Thai Binh to quench the political instability in the province. During that time, he received detailed directions and instructions from comrade Do Muoi with many discussions taking place until 2am.

After the situation was resolved, the Politburo promulgated the Directive 30-CT/TW on building and implementing regulations on grassroots democracy in March 1998 in order to bring into play the peoples right to mastery.
Welcoming the Lao officials visit, PM Phuc spoke highly of the outcomes of the working session between Phomphiphak and his Vietnamese counterpart Mai Tien Dung.

He asked both sides to continue coordinating in carrying out cooperation deals between the two government offices as well as agreements between Vietnam and Laos.

Phomphiphak conveyed the profound condolences from the Lao Party, State, and people to their Vietnamese counterparts over the death of former General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Do Muoi.

Briefing the PM on Laos socio-economic situation, he said the Lao Government expected that the Vietnamese Government would continue to maintain cooperation and share experience in operating and managing the macro-economy, including sending prominent experts to cooperate with Lao specialists.

Agreeing with this proposal, PM Phuc assigned relevant ministries and sectors to intensify cooperation in this field, thus helping boost Laos economic development in the time to come.

The government leader also requested ministries and sectors of Vietnam and Laos to step up the implementation of cooperation agreements, programmes, and projects in order to contribute to fostering each countrys socio-economic development.
AYIA NAPA HOSTS TOP UK STARS AS THE ISLAND HEADS TO BECOME TOP HOLIDAY DESTINATION FOR BRITS

MIST, MOSTACK, WILEY, KREPT & KONAN AND MORE DESDENDED ON AYIA NAPA THIS WEEK AS THE ISLAND STEAMS BACK IN TO THE RUNNING AS THE TOP DESTINATION FOR SUMMER.

Jumping on stage across the 5 day Cyprus Break event, which hosted stages by local bars and sponsored by the likes of Link Up TV, the huge line up of UK stars closed the party season in full party mode!

Cyprus has always been a top holiday destination, offering a huge range of highlights for both families and partygoers alike. Classed as one of the key destinations for Garage music back in the noughties, Ayia Napa became the offshore hub of the music scene with UK musicians descending on the island every year, including the likes of Dizzee Rascal and Roll Deep. The island was that influential that even chart hits were born in its clubs including Funky Dees Are You Gonna Bang? and now it looks like all eyes are back on Ayia Napa once again.

As of 2018, Ayia Napa has become a luxurious haven of rooftop bars accompanied by infinity pools, cocktail bars and live music venues, including The Dock which hosted Napa Rocks, amongst other events, and over 69 international acts! The waterpark, WaterWorld, which has always been a family favourite, has introduced a VIP suite and has also been given top 10 status not only by TripAdvisor but also The Sun , who compared it to the most popular water parks around the world, whilst a host of celebrity holidaymakers and musicians have hopped on to the island during the course of the summer.

Check out the showreel below for a glimpse of Tekashi 6ix 9ine, DJ EZ, Tim Westwood, DonaeO, K-Trap, Krept & Konan, Mist, Mostack, Fredo, Asco, Mowgli, Tiffany Calver, Wiley, Fekky, A.M. SNiPER, Swarmz, Margz, Koomz, Kele Le Roc, Drew Astro, Yung Fume, Tizzy & Brandz, Romzy, Joce Wavy, Natalie Sade and more!
























In 1966 a U.S. Navy helicopter crew plucked a downed aviator from North Vietnams busiest harbor in one of the wars most daring rescues

On the morning of Aug. 31, 1966, Aviation Photographers Mate 2nd Class Mike Delamore boarded a tubby U.S. Navy amphibious helicopter with his camera and plenty of film. He expected to shoot a typical day in a chopper crews life flying combat search and rescue (CSAR) over the Gulf of Tonkin. The mission initially offered little excitement. Hours of boredom piled up as the four-man crew flew lazy patterns near Yankee Stationthe point in the ocean from which American carriers launched aircraft into North Vietnam exchanging small talk with their passenger, mugging for his camera and waiting for a distress call.

But Delamore soon found himself in a combat photographers dream position, witness to one of the most spectacular rescues of the Vietnam Wara downed pilot plucked from the water in broad daylight in plain view of the enemy despite withering ground fire and a host of other dangers. Newspapers worldwide reprinted Delamores photos of the rescue.

The story behind his photos begins with a different kind of aerial photography assignment.

Not long after Delamore got airborne that last day of August 1966, Lt. Cmdr. Thomas Tucker catapulted from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany (CVA-34) in his Vought RF-8G Crusader on a photoreconnaissance mission. Tuckers mission prep had begun the night before, when he reviewed requirements from the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), based outside Saigon, detailing the types of photos the brass wanted and the location of the target. He determined which cameras and what kind of film he would use, picked up maps of the area, planned his flight and got some sleep before his briefing from Oriskanys Air Intelligence Office two hours before takeoff the next morning.

Operation Rolling Thunder, the sustained aerial bombing of North Vietnam, was in its second year, and members of Light Photographic Squadron 63 (VFP-63), scattered across Southeast Asia in small detachments, had played a key role in the campaign. In the era before reliable satellite imagery, the U.S. militarys fast jets gathered much of the raw intelligence on troop movements, weapons installations, bomb damage and so on. As commander of VFP-63s Detachment G, Tucker had already flown more than 30 such photorecon missions into North Vietnam. Half an hour before launch he did the preflight check on Corktip 602, the call sign and tail number of the Vought RF-8G Crusader he would fly that day. Soon the carrier turned into the wind, and Tucker blasted into the air with a boost from a steam catapult. Once airborne Tucker checked in with Lt. Cmdr. Foster Tooter Teague, who was flying escort in an armed Crusader. They proceeded north.

To keep from being blown from the sky, a pilot flying the specially equipped RF-8G depended on three tactical advantages: speed, maneuverability and superior mission planning. The single-seat photorecon jet could scream through a combat zone at nearly 1,000 miles per hour, and although it carried no weapons, it still boasted the fast-twitch handling of a state-of-the-art fighter. Moreover, without the weight of rockets, missiles or guns, the modified planes extended range allowed its pilot to use the main payloadsix high-speed camerasto maximum effect. These aviators made great use of their own aerial intelligence to map the topography, radar locations and gun emplacements in hot spots throughout Southeast Asia, which helped them develop savvy flight plans. Sometimes mission planners were able to add an armed escortthe role played by Tooter Teague in this casebut given the nature of their work, the deck was often stacked against them. Photorecon Crusader pilots recorded a casualty rate three times higher than any other Navy fighter or attack squadron in Vietnam. And the mission Tucker had just begun had all the hallmarks of what made their work so dangerous.

The target of his cameras that day was shipping in Haiphong Harbor, North Vietnams largest port, 60 miles east of Hanoi. Tucker planned to approach at 600 knots, crossing the harbor roughly southwest to northeast, from land toward the sea. Were he hit, he would already be heading out to the relative safety of open water. Thats where the aircraft carriers were, with their helicopters and fleets of escorting warships. Tucker would overfly the target at a constant speed and the medium altitude necessary to capture clear images. In so doing, he would make himself a target for radar-guided anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) batteries to lock on and destroy him.

Turning over Haiphong, Tucker flew Corktip 602 through a maze of black 85 mm gun bursts and strings of green 12.7 mm machine gun tracers. Suddenly, as the pilot jinked and veered his aircraft, a line of 37 mm AAA fire ripped into the Crusader, damaging its hydraulics. Struggling to stay on course toward the gulf, Tucker radioed hed been hit and was losing control. He did manage to get feet wetover waterbut barely. As the Crusader pitched wildly, high g-forces pinned the pilots arms in place. Teague had seen the photorecon plane get hit and urged Tucker to punch out. He tried, but the high gs prevented him from reaching over his helmet to grab the ejection face curtain. His doomed Crusader had dropped to just 1,500 feet when the pilot managed to reach down and pull the yellow-and-white handle between his legs.

Tucker blacked out when his ejection seat blasted him free of the falling wreckage at 80 feet per second. Under a good canopy he regained consciousness less than 1,000 feet above the water and realized the enemy was shooting at him while he hung helplessly from his chute. I just could not believe they were really shooting at me, he later said. I could hear the bullets screaming by me.

Moments later Tucker splashed down deep inside Haiphong Harbor, in a secondary shipping channel between the mainland and Ile de Dinh Vu. He later estimated about 100 yards separated him from shore. Quickly disconnecting his chute, he worked free of its floating suspension lines, noting that the crew of a Russian merchant ship tied up at a nearby pier began readying a lifeboat. His splashdown had also drawn the attention of North Vietnamese mariners, who prepared to launch their boats. Tucker chose not to inflate his life raft, realizing that would only make him a bigger target. The downed pilot started swimming away from shore even as Teague sent a distress signal, seeking immediate aid.

The crew of a U.S. Navy Sikorsky SH-3A Sea Kingone of the Indian Gals from Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron 6answered the call, having just completed their second midair refueling of the day over Yankee Station. At the controls were pilot Cmdr. Bob Vermilya and copilot Ensign Bill Runyon. Under the call sign Big Mother, they had been in the air about eight hours that day as the CSAR helo from the anti-submarine carrier USS Kearsarge (CVS-33). They told Teague to wait while they coordinated with Rescue Combat Air Patrol (RESCAP) fighter-bombers and obtained permission from their ship-based commander to enter Haiphong Harbor. Come now or dont bother, Teague implored. You either get him now or give him up.

At that Vermilya ordered Runyon to turn the buffalo-shaped helicopter toward Haiphong, and Big Mother was soon barreling toward Tuckers last known location. Following the most recently adopted procedures, Runyon accelerated the Sea King to about 140 knots at an altitude of 3,000 feeta theoretical sweet spot too low for surface-to-air missiles and too high for most AAA fire. Meanwhile, enlisted crewmen AWC Tom Grisham and ADR2 Jerry Dunford readied their door-mounted M-60 machine guns. As Big Mother entered Haiphong Harbor, still some 6 miles from the downed pilot, Vermilya and Runyon noted an alarm from the helos airborne threat detection system. Moments later a surface-to-air missile exploded just overhead, destroying the theory they were below the minimum altitude for an SA-2 missile. Runyon dove the amphibious helo toward the deck and continued racing toward Tuckers position, swerving to keep enemy gunners guessing while remaining as low as possiblesometimes just a few feet above the water. Vermilya later recalled that as they raced Big Mother across the harbor, it seemed enemy anti-aircraft gunners checked their fire, perhaps fearing they might hit any of the various merchant vessels from neutral countries that frequented the port. As shore-based automatic weapons tore up the water around them, Big Mothers lone passenger, photographer Delamore, got busy with his camera.

Meanwhile, Teague and the RESCAP pilots began paving the way for Big Mothers arrival. The North Vietnamese government had placed a bounty on captured American pilots, an amount that exceeded the average workers annual salary. Thus the local fishermen and sailors had ample motivation to take the Yankee air pirate alive. As Tucker swam farther from shore, more than 100 junks, sampans and sailboats set out or turned from their duties in the channel to chase him down. Teague rolled his Crusader back and forth in repeated passes through intense ground fire to strafe the pursuing boats, many of which scattered and beached themselves. All the while he kept on the radio, toggling between comms with Tucker and the growing number of arriving air assets. Each time Teague switched off Tuckers frequency, the pilot felt a surge of panic until the next update from his wingman. With confirmation from Vermilya that SAR was on the way, Teague swung his fast mover east over the harbor in a wide arc around Big Mother at four times the choppers speed, blasting at shoreline AAA guns with his 20 mm cannon.

For a short time Tucker was on his own. With no Crusader crisscrossing overhead and the shore guns silent, everything seemed strangely still. The downed pilot chose that moment to inflate his one-man life raft, clamber into it and paddle frantically away from shore, hoping to hear again soon from his wingman. All at once he sensed a fast-approaching wall of noise, smoke and churning water. The cavalry was coming.

Tucker watched in relief as a pair of Douglas A-1 Skyraiders arced overhead in full-throated roar to strafe the boats pursuing the downed pilot. Coming around again, the Skyraiders concentrated their 20 mm cannon fire on shore-based automatic weapons installations. As they swung back a third time to attack AAA guns along the channel, missile batteries fired on the deceptively agile planes. Nicknamed Spads after the iconic World War I French biplanes, the propeller-driven Skyraiders may have seemed like relics in the age of jet fighters, but they were superbly adapted to close air support and no doubt a comforting sight. Nimble Douglas A-4 Skyhawk fighter-bomber jets were next to join the fight, and as Big Mother approached, the RESCAP aircraft made several more fire-suppression runs, successfully evading the SA-2 missiles screaming up toward them.

Tucker lit orange smoke flares to mark his location for the chopper. (Of course, this also made him an easier mark for the armed junks and sampans still motoring through the chaos in efforts to capture him.) Weaving around ships and dodging incoming enemy fire in mid-channel, Big Mother roared right over Tuckers position, its crew too preoccupied to notice his flares. Then Grisham, from his position as starboard gunner at the cargo door, spotted the downed pilots smoke a few hundred yards off the starboard quarter and called it out. As Runyon banked the helicopter sharply, both Grisham and Dunford opened up their M-60s at the sampans closest to Tucker, careful to avoid hitting the choppers rotor blades.

Assuming control of Big Mother, Vermilya banked the chopper in another tight, high-angle turn, then pulled the nose toward vertical to bleed off airspeed and transition to a hover. Grisham and Dunford were already lowering the steel hoist cable as Big Mother came to a halt about 30 feet above the water, directly over Tucker. The horseshoe collar at the end of the cable landed practically in the arms of the man in the raft, and Tucker was able to scramble into the sling on his first try. The moment Tucker was harnessed, Grisham passed word to the pilots. Losing no time, Vermilya turned the chopper and sped toward open water without waiting for his new passenger to be reeled in. Big Mother had hovered about 10 seconds. Tuckerall smilesdangled from the cable, while Delamore leaned out to frame photos through his cameras viewfinder. He clicked away as the helicopter crew winched up the dripping wet pilot. Although Tucker had sustained a back injury during his ejection, as soon as he made it into the helicopter, he wriggled free of the sling and chastised Grisham and Dunford, I feel fineman your damned guns! He then started feeding the ammo belt into Grishams weapon. Irate at having been shot at while defenseless, Tucker wanted to stay and continue fighting. But the pilots werent about to push their luck, and Big Mother rumbled out across the gulf toward safety.

From the first distress call to the moment the rescue helicopter cleared the harbor, enemy soldiers and gun crews had fired continuously for 20 minutes at Big Mother, focal point of all the hot lead, shells and missiles the North Vietnamese could hurl. Yet, incredibly, a postflight safety check revealed the chopper had sustained no damage. A closer look at the circumstances helps explain why.

The Sea King had approached over open water, where terrain masking was impossible and visibility was good. Thus enemy gunners ashore and in the armed vessels had seen it coming from a far greater distance than they would a low-flying helicopter over land. However, the methods the North Vietnamese gunners used for range findingradar and optical sightingtended to perform poorly in such conditions. Sea clutter rendered the radar-guided shore batteries ineffective, as they were unable to lock on a small target flying so low. Complicating matters, the sea itself moves, its constantly shifting nature making visual range-finding a challenge. Furthermore, clouds cast moving shadows, while swells and waves change with the winds. Though the North Vietnamese could see and fire at the approaching aircraft from a great distance, they had an impossible time adjusting their first volleys, and the choppers zigzag path through the gauntlet compounded the difficulty. The Spads and other attack aircraft also did a tremendous job suppressing fire from the shore positions closest to Tucker and clearing out the sampans and other threats on the water around him. The American rescue pilots had pressed their attacks with dedication, each knowing that one day he might be the one floating in the water and hoping for a ride from a CSAR chopper.

As the rescue unfolded, the destroyer USS Towers (DDG-9) had steamed west from its position as northern SAR coordinator and closed to just outside the range of shore batteries. The ships SAR controllers, who had been coordinating the mission, congratulated each other on the smooth rescue. Hovering over the destroyer, Big Mother gently lowered Tucker to the ships deck, then returned to her lazy aerial orbit above Towers, the days duty not yet done. Once they were relieved from watch, the crew flew their helo back to the destroyer, hoisted up Tucker again and flew him back to his detachment, roughly 150 miles to the south. Soon after Big Mother touched down on the Oriskany, the rescue crew was overwhelmed with ovations.

The carrier would soon be the site of two sad events: An onboard fire that October 26 would kill 44 crew members, and a year after that Lt. Cmdr. John McCain would launch from the carrier, only to be shot down and held as a POW for nearly six years.

Those calamities remained unforeseen as Tucker thanked his rescuers. If it had not been for [Teague], he told reporters, I would never have been around when the helicopter arrived. He made pass after pass amid some of the heaviest ground fire that I have ever seen. It was a great performance. To Vermilya, Runyon and the rest of Big Mothers crew, he said, If you guys ever need a favor, come to Tom Tucker, and I will do anything. I owe you my life. Initially recommended for the Medal of Honor, Vermilya received the Silver Star. Runyon was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, while Grisham and Dunford each received the Air Medal. Delamores photos from the rescue remain powerful reminders of exceptional daring, quick thinking, teamwork and the bonds of combat brotherhood. Sailors and officers from several ships and squadrons came together to help a brother in need. Then they went back on watch.

A U.S. Naval Academy graduate and former aviator, Paul X. Rutz [paulrutz.com]is an artist and freelance writer. For further reading he recommends Leave No Man Behind, by George Galdorisi and Tom Phillips, and Flight, Camera, Action! The History of U.S. Naval Aviation Photography and Photoreconnaissance, by Douglas E. Campbell.
A murderer recently released from prison was arrested in North Carolina for allegedly raping a deaf woman who'd been sheltering him from Hurricane Florence, authorities said.

Freeman Scott Ireland, 37, was charged with second-degree forcible rape, Southern Pines police said in a statement on Tuesday.

Read Full

Source: Press Release
The event was presided over by Ambassador Duong Chi Dung, head of Vietnams permanent mission to the UN, the World Trade Organisation and other international organisations in Geneva. This was the first time Ambassador Dung had held the chairmanship of the WIPO General Assembly for 2018-2019.

The 58th series of meetings attracted more than 1,000 delegates from 191 WIPO member states. The Vietnamese delegation was led by Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Pham Cong Tac.

During the meetings, the member states agreed to push forward with negotiations on proposed treaties on broadcasting as well as intellectual property (IP) and genetic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore, and a Design Law Treaty.

In addition, nine new accessions to or ratifications of WIPO treaties showed the member states strong engagement with the IP systems administered by WIPO and underlined the member states commitment to the multilateral system, said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry.

Intellectual property rights form the incentive structure for innovators and creators worldwide, while the treaty-based global IP system administered by the WIPO secretariat facilitates orderly cross-border trade in the technological and cultural products that foster growth and improve lives everywhere, said Gurry.

Throughout the Assemblies, delegates worked together to shape and evolve the global IP system. Among other actions (in agenda order) taken at the WIPO Assemblies, they agreed that the composition of key WIPO committees would be decided at the 2019 WIPO Assemblies; approved the amendments to the WIPO Independent Advisory Oversight Committee Terms of Reference and to the Internal Oversight Charter; and decided to request the Chair of the General Assembly to continue consultations with a view to making a recommendation to the 2019 General Assembly on opening up to four WIPO External Offices in the 2018/2019 biennium, including one in Colombia.

They also urged the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) to make its best efforts to achieve consensus on the remaining outstanding issues related to the proposed treaty during its next two meetings. The SCCR was also directed to take stock at the second meeting, and, if consensus is reached, to propose a recommendation to the 2019 WIPO General Assembly with a date and venue for a diplomatic conference to adopt the broadcasting treaty text.

They decided that it will continue considering the convening of a diplomatic conference on the Design Law Treaty at the end of the first half of 2020; and called on the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC) to expedite its work in accordance with the IGCs mandate for 2018 and 2019.

The Vietnamese delegation actively participated in the meetings and made contributions to a number of important contents.

On the sidelines of the event, Deputy Minister Tac had a working session with WIPO Director General Gurry, during which the Vietnamese official called on WIPO to continue assisting Vietnam in completing the national IP strategy, admit Vietnamese officials to work at the organisation and provide technical support for the country.

The Vietnamese delegation also met with representatives from the European Patent Office, the Japan Patent Office, the National Institute of Industrial Property of France and the UK Intellectual Property Office.
On June 5, 1968, hotel busboy Juan Romero raced to congratulate Sen. Robert Kennedy moments after his victory in the California presidential primary. He had met the candidate the day before, bringing him room service at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.

As Kennedy briefly paused to shake the hand of the 17-year-old, a man named Sirhan Sirhan gunned down Kennedy in front of Romero. A remarkable photograph captured the scene: young Romero, an immigrant from Mexico, cradling the glassy-eyed Kennedy, member of an American political dynasty.

Read Full

Source: Press Release
The University of Michigan announced today it completed what it calls the largest fundraising effort for a public school, bringing in $5 billion. But the flagship may not enjoy the top spot for long. The University of Washington is in the middle of its own $5 billion campaign.

Read Full

Source: Press Release
The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has backed away from a previously stated goal of North Korea giving up its nuclear weapons by the end of Donald Trump's first term in January 2021.

Pompeo is set to visit Pyongyang on Sunday for nuclear negotiations, his first trip since an earlier one was cancelled by Trump over a lack of progress. While the president has boasted of his success in reducing tensions with North Korea, he said last week he did not want to "play the time game" with nuclear talks, and instructed Pompeo to avoid setting a timeline.

Read Full

Source: Press Release
* The Italian government on Thursday dismissed concerns that the European Commission would reject its plan to raise deficit spending next year and signalled that it would not backtrack, even under market pressure.

* The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions against a Turkish-based company, its top directors, and a diplomat of the Democratic Peoples Repblic of Korea, accusing them of trading in weapons and luxury goods with Pyongyang in violation of international sanctions.

* Pakistan has ordered 18 international aid agencies to shut down operations and leave the country, the ActionAid charity said on Thursday, in what would be Islamabad's latest move against foreign-funded groups.

* Turkey's foreign ministry has summoned Saudi Arabia's ambassador for consultations over the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkish sources said on Thursday.

* Brazil's Ministry of Public Safety on Thursday began security operations with more than 280,000 public safety officers in advance of Sunday (October 7)'s general election.

* The Dutch accusations on the alleged attempts of cyber attacks by Russian spies are another act of propaganda directed against Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

* Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that his country would keep a military presence in Syria until an election is held there.

* The new North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), known as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), reinforces stability in Mexico's economy, the country's economics minister said Thursday.

* Morocco and Russia held on Thursday in Rabat the 7th session of the Joint Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation Committee.

* Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed on Thursday that Iran will overcome US economic sanctions against the country.

* Ukraine and Hungary announced Thursday that they would expel each other's consuls as their passport dispute deepens.



* Bahrain has signed an agreement to receive US$10 billion of funding from three Gulf neighbors including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait, the official Bahrain News Agency reported Thursday.

* Insurgents had killed 90 people and left about 1,000 homeless since the attacks began a year ago in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, the Police General Commander of Mozambique said Thursday.

* Ukraine has imposed restrictions on building infrastructure facilities in urban green spaces -- parks, recreational zones, and forests, a senior government official announced on Thursday.

* Gulf states have deposited over US$1 billion in Jordan's central bank as part of a US$2.5 bln package to shore up the kingdom's struggling economy.

* Zimbabwe has started vaccinating people living in urban areas to contain the worst cholera outbreak to hit the country in a decade which has left 49 people dead and infected thousands more. Some 1.4 million will be vaccinated, starting with those in the most densely populated areas.
This article was originally published in the newspaper El Universal in Mexico. It is the first in a series produced by Human Rights Watch evaluating the human rights record of President Enrique Pena Nieto

One of the most vexing questions Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador will face as president of Mexico is what to do about the countrys armed forces. For more than a decade, they have engaged in a drug war, with disastrous results for human rights and public security, and a corrosive impact on the rule of law. The problem, in a nutshell, is that the military is operating throughout much of Mexico with little or no effective control by civilian authorities. The Interior Security Law passed last year, if implemented in its current form, will only make matters worse.

President Enrique Pena Nieto inherited this catastrophe from his predecessor, Felipe Calderon, who within weeks of taking office in 2006 deployed Mexican troops en masse to confront organized crime in several parts of the country. The deployments were initially presented as temporary to support civilian police forces that found themselves outgunned by powerful and ruthless criminal organizations. But by the end of the Calderons presidency, they had become permanent in many places, with the armed forces effectively substituting forrather than merely supportingthe police.

The legal basis for Calderons policy was dubious. Article 129 of the Constitution establishes that in times of peace, no military authority will perform functions other than those that are strictly related to military discipline. The Calderon administration justified using the military by citing a 1996 Supreme Court ruling that the military could participate in public security activities at the request of civilian authorities. But that ruling established a clear requirement that the military serves an auxiliary role, supporting civilian forces, not replacing them. That is not what has happened.

Anuncio

What might have made it easier to ignore this requirement was the National Security Law that was enacted under President Vicente Fox. This earlier law defined threat to national security to include any obstacles to military and naval operations to combat organized crime. Some in Mexico interpreted this definition to mean that the armed forces could participate in public security operations within the country. This was, at best, a dubious reading. In any case, a 2008 constitutional reform that established (in article 21) that public security institutions will be civilian should have cleared up any confusion. Apparently, it did not.

A member of the Mexican army stands guard outside a kidergarten during the beginning of the school year 2018-2019 in Acapulco, Guerrero state, Mexico on August 20, 2018. (Getty Images)

Pena Nieto could have reversed the militarization of public security. But he chose not to. As a candidate, he promised to extract the armed forces from law enforcement and replace them with a new 40,000-member police force called the National Gendarmerie. But this promise was largely forgotten once he took office, and the militarization has continued unabated. Between 2012 and 2017, the number of mixed operation military bases that also have police and prosecutorsgrew from 75 to 182, with coverage expanding from 19 to 27 states. The number of military personnel assigned to these bases nearly tripled. In contrast, the size of the federal police force has barely changed, remaining under 40,000, with the new gendarmerie never amounting to more than 5,000 officers.

The militarization of public security has had predictably disastrous results. Mexicos armed forces, like those in any other country, are made for warfare, not law enforcement, and have a history of grave violations against civilians. Deploying them to contain criminal violence was like throwing fuel on a fire. Under Calderon, it produced widespread abusesincluding executions, enforced disappearances, and torture. It failed to reduce the violence. Indeed, it may have been a factor contributing to the dramatic increase in homicides over these years.

Calderons militarization was especially dangerous because of the lack of effective civilian control over the armed forces. The Mexican military is one of the least transparent and accountable in the hemisphere. Until recently, this was due largely to holding on to the archaic practice of giving the military exclusive jurisdiction over abuses by its personnel. The prosecutors and judges in the military justice systemthemselves officers under orders of the military high commandserved to ensure impunity for the abuses.

When Pena Nieto began his presidency, Mexico had just taken a historic step toward finally bringing its armed forces under the rule of law. In September 2012, the Supreme Court had issued the last in a series of rulings establishing that civilian authorities should investigate, and prosecute in civilian courts, abuses by military personnel against civilians. Yet, the federal prosecutors office (PGR) has made very little progress during Pena Nietos term in prosecuting these cases. From 2012 to 2016, it opened more than 500 investigations against soldiers but obtained only 16 convictions, according to a study by the Washington Office on Latin America, a nongovernmental group.

Members of the Mexican Army participate in the parade celebrating a new anniversary of the countrys independence, at Zocalo Square in Mexico City on September 16, 2018. (ALFREDO ESTRELLA / AFP/Getty Images)

Possibly the only fully independent investigation that the military faced during the Pena Nieto presidency was by the International Group of Independent Experts, which was established to review the case of the disappearance of the 43 students from Ayotzinapa. But the Defense Ministry refused to allow the investigators to interview any military personnel. Apparently, the Attorney Generals Office and the Interior Ministry made concerted efforts to persuade the military to cooperate, but they could not compel it to do so. If that were the case it would be a remarkable testament to the degree to which the Mexican military is able to operate outside the control of the civilian government.

The only state institutions that have proven willing to take on the military are Mexicos autonomous agencies. The National Human Rights Commission (Comision Nacional de Derechos Humanos, CNDH) has issued dozens of recommendations during the Pena Nieto presidency that found the armed forces responsible for abuses against civilians. The National Transparency Institute (Instituto Nacional de Transparencia, Acceso a la Informacion y Proteccion de Datos Personales, INAI) has also played a key role as enforcer of the right to information, allowing civil society to obtain information about the militarys human rights practices.

But the National Human Rights Commission has no authority to enforce its recommendations, and the military routinely disregards many of them. And the Transparency Institute has little leeway to approve information requests when the Defense Department invokes national security.

It was in this context that the Interior Security Law was passed. Its ostensible aim was to establish clearer rules for military operations within the country. Perhaps the most appealing argument for these rules was that they might force elected officials to take responsibility for the countrys public security catastrophe. Using the military to combat organized crime had allowed them to put off the hard work of building civilian police forces capable of doing the job. The law would oblige governors and the president to justify military interventions, which would require acknowledging the failings of their own police forces in safeguarding public security. Moreover, by formally requesting military intervention, these authorities would assume the political responsibility for the outcome.

Unfortunately, it is very unlikely that the Interior Security Law that was passed will promote any such political reckoning. On the contrary, it grants the armed forces greater freedom fromand authority overcivilian authorities. Even though the law establishes procedures for requesting military intervention (article 20), it also states that the military can act on its ownand on a permanent basisto prevent or attend to risks to interior security (article 26) or to national security (article 6). In other words, military interventions targeting organized crime will not need a request by civilian authorities.

Mexican army soldiers escort drug lord, Joaquin El Chapo Guzman to a helicopter to be transported to a maximum security prison at MexicoGCOs Attorney GeneralGCOs hangar, in Mexico City, Friday, Jan. 8, 2016. (Eduardo Verdugo / AP)

Moreover, the law establishes that when the military is deployed in interior security operations, the president will designate a military commander, proposed by the armed forces, to coordinate, direct, and assign the mission of each civilian authority who participates (article 20). The military will not need to limit itself to an auxiliary and subordinate role. It will be in charge.

As for the more fundamental question of whether the armed forces can be involved in public security at all, the law pretends to resolve the constitutional problem with a semantic sleight of hand. Article 18 states: In no case will the interior security activities carried out by armed forces be considered or have the status of public security. In other words, the constitutional restriction is evaded by a legally sanctioned fiction. As the Mexican constitutional scholar, Alejandro Madrazo has written: The law doesnt prohibit the armed forces from carrying out public security activities; it prohibits everyone else from calling them what they are.

It gets worse. The law reinforces the already considerable opacity of the armed forces and extends it to police participating in interior security activities. Article 9 states: Information generated with the aim of implementing this law will be considered of National Security, in accordance with applicable legal provisions. While this provision does not change the substantive rules governing what sort of information should be accessible, it will make getting it far more onerous and time-consuming. By applying the label national security to all information generated by activities covered in the law, Article 9 is likely to encourage officials to classify this information as a matter of course, shifting the burden to those seeking the information to show that it is not covered, through an appeals process that can be lengthy. Moreover, even if the petitioners eventually obtain a favorable ruling, they could face additional delays lasting many monthsor even a reversal of the rulingif the presidents office appeals to the Supreme Court on national security grounds.

Equally troubling is Article 31, which obliges all federal authorities to turn over information required by military or civilian institutions involved in interior security. This obligation extends even to the National Human Rights Commission and the Transparency Institute, which could allow the armed forces to obtain the identities of people who seek access to improperly classified information or denounce military abuses. The loss of guaranteed anonymity would create a powerful deterrent for would-be petitioners.

These and other provisions of the law have caused alarm in Mexico and abroad. The highest authorities on human rights at the United Nations and the Organization of American States have voiced concern. Lopez Obrador announced in August that he would take a position vis-a-vis the law after the Supreme Court had resolved the constitutional challenges presented by the CNDH, INAI, and others.

The future of the Interior Security Law now depends on the Supreme Court. It is a historic opportunity for the judiciary to clarify, once and for all, what limits exist on the role that the armed forces can play in Mexicos domestic affairs. At stake is not only the question of whether the armed forces should participate in public security, but whether they are to be subordinated to effective civilian control and subject to the rule of law.

If the court allows the Interior Security Law to stand in anything like its current form, Lopez Obrador should immediately ask Congress to repeal the law in its entirety. But he should also pledge to work with Congress, as well as with state and municipal governments, and, especially, with Mexican civil society, to strengthen the capacity of the state to contain organized crime and reduce violence. Amongst other things, that would imply finding a more effective way to address the dynamic that many have identified as the main cause of the countrys ongoing public security catastrophe: the use of the military as a substitute for civilian law enforcement.

* Daniel Wilkinson is the Americas managing director at Human Rights Watch.
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.
Subscribing to our services is a three step process. First you have to create an account and then you have to pick if you want to subscribe to digital and or print.

Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition.

If you are already a print subscriber and want online access, it is free, you simply have to create an online account and then attach your print subscription account number to the online account you create.
Weve decided to pay Louis Moinet a tribute on the 250th anniversary of his birth, providing the opportunity for as many people as possible to discover his works through a properly documented, permanent display with unlimited access. Indeed, our Digital Museum is set to become one of the cornerstones of our mission: restoring Louis Moinets name to its rightful place in the watchmakers pantheon.

Ateliers Louis Moinet is one of the few fully-independent firms to have such a well-preserved heritage. The firms collection is also one of the most extensive: several dozen period pieces, signed by Louis Moinets own hand, all of them fully authenticated, and most of them in full working order. The independent Ateliers, whose policy of acquiring these pieces was first implemented some fifteen years ago, can be rightfully proud of this historic legacy.

King of Naples  Louis Moinet

These heirlooms from the great century of watchmaking have so far been visible in two types of venue. First of all, there is the Ateliers head office in Saint-Blaise, Neuchatel, Switzerland. Here Mr Louis Moinets clocks and precision instruments (including his 1816 Compteur de Tierces, the first certified chronograph in history) are documented, analysed, and restored by exceptional master watchmakers and craftsmen, including some vanishingly rare specialists, some working with agate, others skilled in mercury gilding, lavishing their most attentive care on this unique heritage and protecting its original character.

Louis Moinets treasures are also to be found in prestigious locations where the watchmaker was welcomed in his day, such as the White House and the Court of Tsar Alexander I  most of the treasures of which are now in the Hermitage Museum. Over two centuries after dignitaries commissioned work from Louis Moinet, a large number of his clocks are still to be found in these palaces and museums, witnesses to diplomatic history at a time when the watchmaking art formed part of the trappings of politics, embodying the power and culture of sovereigns and presidents alike.

Traite d'Horlogerie  Louis Moinet

Now, in 2018, exactly 250 years after the birth of Louis Moinet in Bourges in 1768, there will be a third venue where it will be possible to learn all about his contribution to the art of watchmaking: a Digital Museum. Weve been working on this project for a year now. We wanted something that would be accessible from everywhere, perfectly documented, and provide as full a presentation as possible of Louis Moinets contribution to his century and those that followed, explains Jean-Marie Schaller. While he is now recognised as being the certified inventor of the chronograph (1816), weve also sought to give just as much exposure to his lesser-known creations, in particular his Traite dHorlogerie, which is also celebrating an anniversary this year (2018 marks the 170th anniversary of its first publication in 1848), as well as his clocks and pocket watches.

The Digital Museum is going online for the 250th anniversary of Louis Moinets birth, at www.louismoinet.org. The Museum already includes 150 photos of the watchmakers achievements. The site is designed to remain online permanently, and be regularly updated by the Ateliers. Its a first in watchmaking; a rare initiative by a fully-independent firm. However, the idea is not to feature absolutely all of Louis Moinets works there, just as theres no museum in the world that presents the entire career of a sculptor or painter in the same place, at the same time, all the time. In this respect, the Louis Moinet Digital Museum is just like any other museum in the world: a select, properly documented expression of the artists main achievements, raising awareness of his genius.
LIMON, Costa RicaDuring the month of September, Humane Society International/Latin America participated in an animal health fair that took place in the indigenous community of Suretka, Talamanca, in the province of Limon. The purpose of the fair was to provide local animals with general health check-ups and sterilizations.

Teams treated 200 dogs and cats, who were given health exams, dewormed and vaccinated against rabies. Nearly 100 animals were also spayed or neutered. In one case, a tumour was removed from a young dog who was in very poor health. He was dewormed and his owner was given medication and instructions to improve his health.

For Amanda Chaves, manager of the Companion Animals Program of HSI/LA, this type of event provides a helping hand to people who live in remote places and who do not have veterinary doctors or access to the appropriate medicine for their pets. The idea is to help animals who dont have the opportunity to see a veterinarian on a regular basis. Humane Society International/Latin America makes this life-saving care possible by donating the materials and medicines so that the specialists can do their work, explained Chaves.

Give now to help animals all over the world.

The health fair was organized by the Costa Rican Indigenous Association and included veterinary staff from the National Animal Health Service (SENASA), the College of Veterinary Physicians of Costa Rica, and the Hospital of Minor and Wild Species of the National University. Additional support came from the Municipality of Heredia and HSI/LA, which provided the medicines and supplies for animal care.

This is the second time that HSI/LA has travelled to Talamanca to work with SENASA. The collaboration has resulted in significant improvement in the welfare of local residents companion animals. HSI/LA expects to contribute every three months to animal health fairs in the province.

END

Media contact for HSI/LA:
Attorney General Maura Healey, wearing a sticker supporting district attorney candidate Andrea Harrington, speaks to media on Monday. Healey speaks with Mayors Linda Tyer of Pittsfield and Thomas Bernard of North Adams. PreviousNext

AG Healey Touts Record, Endorses Harrington for District Attorney



Andrea Harrington speaks to supporters at Democratic campaign headquarters on North Street. PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Attorney General Maura Healey stressed the importance of voting at the local level during her stop at Democratic campaign headquarters on North Street this past Monday.

"School committee, mayor, Legislature, city council, so many of the policies in our country are determined at the local level and state level," she told one supporter who was asking what she could do to effect change. "Congress is important but don't lose sight of every election mattering."

That includes voting for district attorney as Healey endorsed Democratic nominee Andrea Harrington.

"I've been out here today talking about our role as the people's lawyer and the work that we do to stand up for workers, and consumers and seniors, and the work I want to continue to do for the next four years," said Healey, who is being challenged in her run for a second term by Republican attorney James "Jay" McMahon.

"I'm also here today in support of my friend Andrea Harrington who I think will be a terrific district attorney for Berkshire County," she continued. "I think she brings the right kind of experience for this job, different experiences as a lawyer ... and I really appreciate her support for the new criminal justice reform law."

Healey pointed to Harrington's focus during her campaign to promote programs addressing crimes of violence, including domestic violence and sexual assault, as well her ideas on bail reform and support for drug courts, and a potential veterans court in Berkshire County.

Harrington last month won a three-way Democratic primary for district attorney and was expected sail through the general election with no Republican opponent on the ballot. However, incumbent Paul Caccaviello, who came in second in the primary, has launched a write-in campaign.

But the enthusiasm at Democratic headquarters on Monday was for the Harrington and Healey as supporters packed into the room to speak with them and candidates including state Sen. Adam Hinds and state Rep. Tricia Farley-Bouvier.

Healey was mobbed as local supporters congratulated her for her work so far and asked that they could do here in the Berkshires.

"Do everything you can to get out the vote in the fall," she told one woman. "We need new people in Congress who are going to be there to provide a check on this president who continues to do things that are illegal and unconstitutional and harmful to our American values and our American way."

Healey pointed to what her office has done to defend against federal policies on family separation, climate change, the U.S. Census, and the Affordable Care Act.

"It really is the states and the state attorney generals who are stepping up and on the front lines," she said. "We have taken the Trump administration to court because the president and his agencies have done things that are illegal and unconstitutional and, for me, that hurt Massachusetts."

The attempts at a travel ban has hurt the state's technology, life sciences, and educational sectors; the AGs office sued when Medicaid funding for the state was endangered; and, beyond upholding the state's obligations under the state's Global Warming Solutions Act, her office has brought suits against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to defend the investments made in clean energy and the 100,000 jobs it has created, she said.

"People may not know but last year alone my office recovered over $800 million for the state of Massachusetts and taxpayers," Healey said. "We're going to continue to be there operating hotlines and working on issues of access to health care and reducing energy costs and continuing to be on the frontline of the opioid crisis."

Healey has brought suit against Purdue Pharma executives she said contributed to the deaths of than 670 residents since 2009 by misleading providers and patients about the effects of drugs like Oxycontin.

"I think as a state and even as a country we could be doing more on this crisis and I wish we had more support at the federal level, frankly, than we currently have," the attorney general said. "Listen, people need access to treatment, they need access to care. There are a whole lot of people out there who are sick and addicted right now and don't have access to the kind of care and treatment and long-term care and treatment that our families need."

Substance abuse prevention education is an unmet need that the AG's office is trying to fulfill with a $2 million collaborative program, Project Here , available for free to middle schools.

Healey also touted work on abandoned housing and heating bill assistance for local towns and cities.
Enjoy more than a dozen different art shows featuring work by more than 50 accomplished regional and student artists in Pittsfield's bustling Upstreet Cultural District during the First Friday Artswalk, and all month long!



In most venues, artists will be present from 5-8 p.m. A free guided tour begins at 5 p.m. at the Intermodal Center @ BRTA, 1 Columbus Ave.



For one night only: The Berkshire Alzheimer's Partnership presents Memories in the Making, a program of the Alzheimer's Association, which arms memory-impaired individuals with new tools for expression when words fail. Through art therapy, participants use canvas and brush to share their ideas, feelings and memories. View more than 40 watercolors created over the course of the program. This reception, with refreshments and live music, will be held at the Ralph Froio Senior Center, located at 330 North Street, from 5-8 p.m. Berkshire Art Association's biennial juried show, Showing Up: For Your Neighborhoods, Communities and Each Other, which address civic engagement and community. More than 30 artists from throughout the Northeast will present paintings, drawings, sculpture and photography, showing wide-ranging interpretations on the theme. The Lichtenstein Center for the Arts , located at 28 Renne Ave., will present the
'Fahrenheit 11/9': It's Worse Than you Think

Walk down almost any street USA and ask 10 people if they know who Mike Pence is. You'd be surprised how few do. But I betcha bunches of them know where Miley Cyrus is playing this Friday night. Such is the complacent folly of a citizenry entirely certain that the Founding Fathers put our democracy on automatic pilot. And therefore, no amount of selfish incursion from greedy forces within should tear us away from munching Fritos and gulping mass quantities of beer while we watch today's version of the gladiators do their best to sustain brain injuries.

But hark, good citizen, there are, alas, true patriots in the land, and not the kind that simply wrap themselves in the flag but have no real understanding of our history and how the notion of protest is the very essence of our nation's creation. Michael Moore, the Academy Award-winning documentarian and long acknowledged defender of the disadvantaged, via his scathingly chilling "Fahrenheit 11/9," is out to prove that if our country is saved from the Philistines now banging at the gate, it will be in large part thanks to the Free Press those founders specified.

But while folks who know our past well are certain to give credence to Moore's caustic evaluation of how we have arrived at this ugly threat to our liberty, they are more than likely to also bemoan that the muckraker extraordinaire is preaching to the choir. And Moore knows it. So he periodically homes in on the microcosmic example of Flint, Michigan, his hometown. He hammers away at the injustices thrust upon the poor, and explains why many people, too busy just trying to survive, don't feel they have the luxury to fight for democracy. It's up to us to help.

Alternating between pinpointing and painting with a broad brush the factors that imperil us, the filmmaker pulls no punches and surprisingly attacks a few of the people and institutions that this bleeding-heart hypocrite has deemed sacred cows. A jab at President Obama, as well as one at The New York Times are curious, and hopefully, just exceptions that prove a rule. Yet it goes a long way in substantiating Moore's determination to objectively peel the rancid onion that is our current state of affairs. He is an equal opportunity fury -- a good Javert in service of the Republic.

Understood, Michael Moore is at the very least a liberal and makes no bones about it. Still, it is his assertion in an opening statement that, supported by polls, America is at heart a left-leaning nation. He goes down the laundry list of what makes us so, from our desire to institute Medicare for all to our belief that a free college education should be available to anyone who can gain entrance. In making his point, he laments that, through the numerical voodoo of the Electoral College, the three branches of government do not currently represent the will of the people.

Of course, this is no mystery, but a sad fact of civilization. Since even before the days of kings it behooved the wealthy and powerful to be cannier than the masses if they were to dominate them. This came in the way of philosophical propaganda that promised a smattering of crumbs for the commoners' fealty, the establishment of a security force to assure the lord of the manor's authority and, in more recent times, a political savvy skilled in union busting, gerrymandering and voter suppression.

It's in the scary analogies he makes that Moore really takes off the gloves. Unlike most of the historians seen on news shows of late, he compares the current administration's modus operandi not to those of past ignoble presidents, but to some of history's most reviled dictators, including Schicklgruber himself. While over the years this extreme baseline of authoritarianism has thankfully, for the most part, been deemed farfetched and unjust when invoked, here we are jaw agape. Black and white footage starkly details tactics and stratagems we wish we could dismiss.

The acidic, relentless deluge of ominous signs Moore points out is overwhelming, not only because it threatens nearly everything we cherish, but because we know that bury-your-head-in-the-sand apathy is the greater menace. If ever we needed proof that our vote counts, this is it. In grammar school, you listened attentively to Mrs. Popper's civic lessons. You are among the 60 percent of Americans who know that something's rotten, and not in Denmark. You also seem to remember something, maybe biblical, about trading your principles for the promise of gold.

Granted, while a consummate connector of facts, Moore, like the geometry student who doesn't show all his proofs but nonetheless arrives at the right answer, takes a leap of faith now and then. However, with the stakes so high, we figure 'tis better to err on the side of democracy. Our temperatures are sent boiling by the alarming presentiments of "Fahrenheit 11/9," and we want to go out and vote, and vote, and vote.

"Fahrenheit 11/9," rated R, is a GathrFilms release directed by Michael Moore and stars the American public. Running time: 128 minutes
Well-known journalist Takla, who conducted the interview, says 'the publications she writes for are allowed to edit the final version of interviews'

EgyptAir defended the authenticity of the interview recently published in its in-flight magazine Horus with Hollywood star Drew Barrymore against allegations of "fabrication."

In a tweet on Tuesday night, the national carrier said it was a professional magazine interview conducted by Dr. Aida Takla, former president of the HFPA (Hollywood Foreign Press Association) and one of the voting members of the Golden Globes."

The interview with Barrymore has grabbed a notable amount of attention over the past week, with allegations that Horus had "fabricated" the interview.

The attention to the Barrymore interview was generated with a tweet by an American freelance journalist, Adam Baron.

While on an EgyptAir flight, Baron took photographs of the magazine and said in a tweet, which went viral, that "this interview with Drew Barrymore in the Egypt Air in-flight magazine is, umm, surreal."

In response to allegations that the interview was fabricated, Dr. Takla stressed on Twitter that she did conduct the interview with Barrymore and that the interview "took place in New York and is genuine & far from fake."

Alex Macheras, an aviation analyst, claimed to have contacted Barrymore's team and that they had stated the actress did not participate in the interview.

However, the actress and her team have not issued any formal statements to deny Barrymore was interviewed by Takla.

Some fans of Barrymore described the interview as "humiliating" to the actress, citing the introduction which described the actress as "unstable in her relationships."

"It is known that Barrymore had almost 17 relationships, engagements and marriages; psychologists believe that her behaviour is only natural since she lacked the male role model in her life after her parents' divorce," the interview read.

The interview also quoted Barrymore, 43, on other personal matters as saying she was pleased with her recent weight loss after having a second daughter.

Barrymore celebrated in the interview women's achievements in the west, stating women in the west ... will not be satisfied unless they gain the rights they deserve to the society. This is especially true since women exert tremendous efforts that men are incapable of exerting due to their numerous commitments and obligations.

An Arabic version of the interview with Barrymore by Takla was originally published in state-owned weekly women's magazine Nisf Al-Donia on 20 August 2018.

Amal Fawzy, the editor in Chief of Nisf Al Donia, which is published by Al-Ahram, issued a statement on her Facebook account on Wednesday saying that the interview was genuine and that she spoke with Aida Takla and Drew Barrymore's manager in a long telephone call.

"Dr. Aida used to send us interviews with famous and international renowned celebs of 10 to 15 pages, according to the interview done with members of HFPA (Hollywood Foreign Press Association), and sometimes the celebs were photographed for an issue of Nisf Al-Donia or Egypt Air's Horus or both."

Fawzy added that the magazines usually summarize and shorten long interviews, and what was required for Horus magazine was only a five-question interview due to space constraints.

She added that "the translator merged the questions and answers, and were not translated literally. In addition, the translator was also the one who made the interview lead and introduction as Dr. Adia Takla left for us the freedom to choose the lead and introduction."

In a series of tweets on Wednesday, Takla stressed that she "has been a correspondent for many publications for decades, and that the publications she writes for are allowed "to edit the final version of the interviews."

Takla explained "As far as Drew, we interviewed her several times, I saw her grow up before my eyes she is charming and talented."

In a tweet, EgyptAir thanked Dr. Takla for her clarifications.

"I told him the translator's view and that she said she only summarized the interview." Fawzy said, adding that that she had talked with officials in HFPA "who stressed the importance to be committed to the literal translation of interviews in the future."

Chris Miller, the president of Flower Films and Barrymore Brands explained to BuzzFeed: "The writer did write the Q&A portion of the interview based on what she says she heard Drew say at one of these [HFPA] press conferences, but she says she did not write the intro."

Miller continued: "the writer is saying someone at the magazine wrote the intro that comes after the journalists name so it seems as though it was written by her but in fact wasnt. So technically Drew did not sit down with EgyptAir for an interview, but a journalist who is a member of the HPFA that sometimes supplies articles to EgyptAir."

According to Fawzy, Drew Barrymore's manager did not deny that she had done the interview, but he objected to the introduction and the lack of accuracy with the translation.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


More Cold War Extremism and Crises





Overshadowed by the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings, US-Russian relations grow ever more perilous.



By Stephen F. Cohen

Stephen F. Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian studies and politics at NYU and Princeton, and John Batchelor continue their (usually) weekly discussions of the new US-Russian Cold War.

October 04, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Emphasizing growing Cold War extremism in Washington and war-like crises in US-Russian relations elsewhere, Cohen comments on the following examples:

Russiagate, even though none of its core allegations have been proven, is now a central part of the new Cold War, severely limiting President Trumps ability to conduct crisis-negotiations with Moscow and further vilifying Russian President Putin for having ordered an attack on America during the 2016 presidential election. The New York Times and The Washington Post have been leading promoters of the Russiagate narrative, even though several of its foundational elements have been seriously challenged, even discredited.

Nonetheless, both papers recently devoted thousands of words to retelling the same narrativeon September 20 and 23, respectivelyalong with its obvious fallacies. For example, Paul Manafort, during the crucial time he was advising then Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, was not pro-Russian but proEuropean Union. And contrary to insinuations, General Michael Flynn did nothing wrong or unprecedented in having conversations with a representative of the Kremlin on behalf of President-elect Trump. Many other presidents-elect had instructed top aides to do the same. The epic retellings of the Russiagate narrative by both papers, at extraordinary length, were riddled with similar mistakes and unproven allegations. (Nonetheless, a prominent historian, albeit one seemingly little informed both about Russiagate documents and about Kremlin leadership, characterized the widely discredited anti-Trump Steele dossierthe source of many such allegationsas increasingly plausible.)

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

Astonishingly, neither the Times nor the Post give any credence to the emphatic statement made at least one week before by Bob Woodwardnormally considered the most authoritative chronicler of Washingtons political secretsthat after two years of research he had found no evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia.

For the Times and Post and other mainstream media outlets, Russiagate has become, it seems, a kind of cult journalism that no counter-evidence or analysis can dint, and thus itself is a major contributing factor to the new and more dangerous Cold War. Still worse, what began nearly two years ago as complaints about Russian meddling in the US presidential campaign has become for the The New Yorker and other publications an accusation that the Kremlin actually put Trump in the White House. For this reckless charge, with its inherent contempt for the good sense of American voters, there is no convincing evidencenor any precedent in American history.

Meanwhile, current and former US officials are making nearly unprecedented threats against Moscow. NATO ambassador Kay Bailey Hutchinson threatened to take out any Russian missiles she thought violated a 1987 arms treaty, a step that would risk nuclear war. The secretary of the interior threatened a naval blockade of Russia. In a perhaps unprecedented, undiplomatic Russophobic outburst, UN ambassador Nikki Haley declared that lying, cheating and rogue behavior are a norm of Russian culture.

These may be outlandish statements by untutored appointed political figures, though they inescapably raise the question: Who is making Russia policy in WashingtonPresident Trump with his avowed policy of cooperating with Russia, or someone else?

But how to explain, other than as unbridled extremism, statements by a former US ambassador to Moscow and longtime professor of Russian politics, who appears to be the mainstream medias leading authority on Russia? According to him, Russia today is a rogue state, its policies criminal actions, and the worlds worst threat. It must be countered by preemptive sanctions that would GO into effect automaticallyindeed, every day, if deemed necessary. Considering the crippling sanctions now being prepared by a bipartisan group of US senatorstheir actual reason and purpose apparently unknown even to themthis would be nothing less than a declaration of war against Russia; economic war, but war nonetheless.

 Several other new Cold War fronts are also fraught with hot war, but today none more than Syria. Another reminder occurred on September 17, when Syrian war planes accidentally shot down an allied Russian surveillance plane, killing all 15 crew members. The cause, it was generally agreed, was subterfuge by Israeli warplanes in the area. The reaction in Moscow was highly indicativepotentially ominous.

At first, Putin, who had developed good relations with Israels political leadership, said the incident was an accident, an example of the fog of war. His own Ministry of Defense, however, loudly protested, blaming Israel. Putin quickly retreated, adopting a much more hard-line position, and in the end vowed to send to Syria Russias highly effective S-300 surface-to-air defense system, a prize both Syria and Iran have requested in vain for years.

Clearly, Putin is not the ever-aggressive Kremlin Kremlin autocrat so often portrayed in US mainstream media. A moderate by nature (in the Russian context), he governs by balancing powerful conflicting groups and interests. In this case, he was countered by long-standing hard-liners (hawks) in the security establishment.

Second, if the S-300s are installed in Syria (they will be operated by Russians, not Syrians), Putin can in effect impose a no-fly zone over that country, which has been torn by war due, in no small part, to the presence of several major foreign powers. (Russia and Iran are there legally; the United States and Israel are not.) If so, it will be a new red line that Washington and Tel Aviv must decide whether or not to cross. Considering the mania in Washington, its hard to be confident that wisdom will prevail.

All of this unfolded on approximately the third anniversary of Russias military intervention in Syria, in September 2015. At that time, Washington pundits denounced Putins adventure and were sure it would fail. Three years later, Putins Kremlin has destroyed the vicious Islamic States grip on large parts of Syria, all but restored President Assads control over most of the country, and has become the ultimate arbiter of Syrias future. President Trump would do best by joining Moscows peace process, though it is unlikely Washingtons mostly Democratic Russiagate party will permit him to do so. (For perspective, recall that, in 2016, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton promised to impose a US no-fly zone over Syria to defy Russia.)

There is also this. As the US-led liberal world order disintegrates, not only in Syria, a new alliance is emerging between Russia, China, Iran, and possibly NATO member Turkey. It will be a real threat only if Washington makes it one, as it has Russia in recent years.

 Finally, the US-Russian proxy war in Ukraine has recently acquired a new dimension. In addition to the civil war in Donbass, Moscow and Kiev have begun to challenge each others ships in the Sea of Azov, near the vital Ukrainian port city of Mariupol. Trump is being pressured to supply Kiev with naval and other weapons to wage this evolving war, yet another potential tripwire. Here too the president would do best by putting his administrations weight behind the long-stalled Minsk peace accords. Here, too, this seemed to be his original intention, but it has proven to be yet another approach, it now seems, thwarted by Russiagate.

Stephen F. Cohen is a professor emeritus of Russian studies and politics at New York University and Princeton University and a contributing editor of The Nation.

This article was originally published by " The Nation " -

Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here.

==See Also==

Manufacturing consent for war with Russia? Russia cyber-plots: US, UK and Netherlands allege hacking

Manufacturing consent for war with Russia? Justice Department charges 7 alleged, Russian hackers with targeting doping agencies, nuclear energy company

Manufacturing consent for war with Russia? Russian cyber agents targeted UK Foreign Office: The Russian embassy hits back at claims Moscow was behind several cyber attacks around the world, calling them "irresponsible".

US & allies hit Russia with coordinated avalanche of hacking accusations. Here are the allegations.

In case you missed it: Frankfurt used as remote hacking base for the CIA: WikiLeaks: WikiLeaks documents reveal CIA agents were given cover identities and diplomatic passports to enter the country. The base was used to develop hacking tools as part of the CIA's massive digital arsenal.

Dozens of Georgians likely killed by US toxin or bioweapon disguised as drug research  Russian MoD

Russia wants answers from US, Georgia on bioweapons at Lugar Center: The Russian Defense Ministry expects answers from the United States and Georgia why munitions for chemical and biological weapons are stored at the Richard Lugar Public Health Research Center.



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
Watch



October 04, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Pence accused China of "meddling in America's democracy," in a wide-ranging speech. He also slammed China's militarization of contested areas in the South and East China Sea, its practice of "debt diplomacy" in developing countries, and efforts to convince other nations to sever ties with Taiwan.

On Thursday morning, Mike Pence stood behind a podium and performed what has become his most essential duty as vice president: trying to fashion his boss half-baked ramblings into something relatively coherent and actionable. China has initiated an unprecedented effort to influence American public opinion, the 2018 elections and the environment leading in the 2020 presidential elections, Pence said in front of a crowd at the Hudson Institute. To put it bluntly, President Trumps leadership is working, and China wants a different American president. There can be no doubt. China is meddling in Americas affairs.

.@VP Pence: "China has initiated an unprecedented effort to influence American public opinion, the 2018 elections and the environment leading in the 2020 presidential electionsPresident Trump's leadership is working, and China wants a different American president." pic.twitter.com/48omZnOWdL  CSPAN (@cspan) October 4, 2018

This article was originally published by "ICH and Agencies" -

Do you agree or disagree? Post your comment here.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

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
October 04, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Earlier this year, in Itoman (Okinawa, Japan), a young girlRinko Sagara (age 14) read out of a poem based on her great-grandmothers experience of World War II. Sagaras great-grandmother reminded her of the cruelty of war. She had seen her friends shot in front of her. It was ugly. Okinawa, a small island on the edge of southern Japan, saw its share of war from April to June 1945. The blue skies were obscured by the iron rain, wrote Rinko Sagara, channeling the memories of her great-grandmother. The roar of the bombs overpowered the haunting melody from the sanshin, Okinawas snakeskin-covered three-string guitar. Cherish each day, the poem goes, For our future is just an extension of this moment. Now is our future.

This week, the people of Okinawa elected Denny Tamaki of the Liberal Party as the governor of Okinawa. Tamakis mother is an Okinawan, while his fatherwhom he does not knowwas a U.S. soldier. Tamaki, like Okinawas former governor Takeshi Onaga, opposes the U.S. military bases on Okinawa. Onaga wanted the presence of the U.S. military removed from the island, a position that Tamaki seems to endorse. The United States has over 50,000 troops in Japan as well as a very large contingent of ships and aircraft. Seventy percent of the U.S. bases are on Okinawa island. Almost everyone in Okinawa wants the U.S. military to go. Rape by U.S. soldiersincluding of young childrenhas long angered the Okinawans. Terrible environmental pollutionincluding the harsh noise from U.S. military aircraftrankles people. It was not difficult for Tamaki to run on an anti-U.S. base platform. It is the most basic demand of his constituents.

But, the Japanese government does not accept the democratic views of the Okinawan people. Discrimination against the Okinawans plays a role here, but more fundamentally there is a lack of regard for the wishes of ordinary people when it comes to a U.S. base. In 2009, Yukio Hatoyama led the Democratic Party to victory in the national elections on a wide-ranging platform that included shifting Japanese foreign policy from its U.S. orientation to a more balanced approach with the rest of Asia. Prime Minister Hatoyama called for the United States and Japan to have a close and equal relationship, which meant that Japan would no longer be ordered about by Washington. The test case for Hatoyama was the relocation of the U.S. Futenma Marine Corps Air Base to a less populated section of Okinawa. His party wanted all the U.S. bases to be removed from the island. Pressure on the Japanese state from Washington was intense. Hatoyama could not deliver on his promise. He resigned his post. It was impossible to go against U.S. military policy and to rebalance Japans relationship with the rest of Asia. Japan, but more properly Okinawa, is effectively a U.S. aircraft carrier.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

Japans Prostituted Daughter

Hatoyama could not move an agenda at the national levellikewise, local politicians and activists have struggled to move an agenda in Okinawa. Tamakis predecessor Takeshi Onaga who died this Augustcould not get rid of the U.S. bases in Okinawa. Yamashiro Hiroji, head of the Okinawa Peace Action Center, and his comrades regularly protest the bases and in particular the transfer of the Futenma base. In October 2016, Hiroji was arrested when he cut a barbed wire fence at the base. He was held in prison for five months and not allowed to see his family. In June 2017, Hiroji went before the UN Human Rights Council to say, The government of Japan dispatched a large police force in Okinawa to oppress and violently remove civilians. Protest is illegal. The Japanese forces are acting here on behalf of the U.S. government.

Suzuyo Takazato, head of the Okinawa Women Act Against Military Violence, has called Okinawa Japans prostituted daughter. This is a stark characterization. Takazatos group was formed in 1995 as part of the protest against the rape of a 12-year-old girl by three U.S. servicemen based in Okinawa. For decades now, Okinawans have complained about the creation of enclaves of their island that operate as places for the recreation of U.S. soldiers. The photographer Mao Ishikawa has portrayed these places, the segregated bars where only U.S. soldiers are allowed to go and meet Okinawan women (her book, Red Flower: The Women of Okinawa, collects many of these pictures from the 1970s). There have been at least 120 reported rapes since 1972, the tip of the iceberg, says Takazato. Every year there is at least one incident that captures the imagination of the peoplea terrible act of violence, a rape or a murder. What the people want is for the bases to close, since they see the bases as the reason for these acts of violence. It is not enough to call for justice after the incidents; it is necessary, they say, to remove the cause of the incidents.

The Futenma base is to be relocated to Henoko in Nago City, Okinawa. A referendum in 1997 allowed the residents of Nago City to vote against a base. A massive demonstration in 2004 reiterated their view, and it was this demonstration that halted construction of the new base in 2005. Susumu Inamine, former mayor of Nago City, is opposed to the construction of any base in his city; he lost a re-election bid this year to Taketoyo Toguchi, who did not raise the base issue, by a slim margin. Everyone knows that if there were a new referendum in Nago City over a base, it would be roundly defeated. But, democracy is meaningless when it comes to the U.S. military base.

Fort Trump

The United States military has a staggering 883 military bases in 183 countries. In contrast, Russia has 10 such bases8 of them in the former USSR. China has one overseas military base. There is no country with a military footprint that replicates that of the United States. The U.S. bases in Japan are only a small part of the massive infrastructure that allows the U.S. military to be hours away from armed action against any part of the planet.

There is no proposal to downsize the U.S. military footprint. In fact, there are only plans to increase it. The United States has long sought to build a base in Poland, whose government now courts the White House with the proposal that it be named Fort Trump. Currently, there are U.S.-NATO military bases in Germany, Hungary and Bulgaria with U.S.-NATO troops deployments in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The United States has increased its military presence in the Black Sea and in the Baltic Sea. Attempts to deny Russia access to its only two warm water ports in Sevastopol, Crimea, and Latakia, Syria, pushed Moscow to defend them with military interventions. A U.S. base in Poland, at the doorstep of Belarus, will rattle the Russians as much as they were rattled by Ukraines pledge to join NATO and by the war in Syria.

These U.S.-NATO bases provide instability and insecurity rather than peace. Tensions abound around them. Threats emanate from their presence.

A World Without Bases

In mid-November, in Dublin, Ireland, a coalition of organizations from around the world will hold the First International Conference Against US/NATO Military Bases. This conference is part of the newly formed Global Campaign Against US/NATO Military Bases.

The view of the organizers is that none of us can stop this madness alone. By madness, they refer to the belligerence of the bases and the wars that come as a result of them. A decade ago, a CIA operative offered me the old chestnut, if you have a hammer, then everything looks like a nail. What this means is that the expansion of the U.S. militaryand its covert infrastructureprovides the incentive for the U.S. political leadership to treat every conflict as a potential war. Diplomacy goes out of the window. Regional structures to manage conflictsuch as the African Union and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisationare disregarded. The U.S. hammer comes down hard on nails from one end of Asia to the other end of the Americas.

The poem by Rinko Sagara ends with an evocative linenow is our future. But it is, sadly, not so. The future will need to be produceda future that disentangles the massive global infrastructure of war erected by the United States and NATO. The future, hopefully, will be made in Dublin and not in Warsaw; in Okinawa and not in Washington.

Vijay Prashad is a writing fellow at the Independent Media Institute. He is the chief editor of LeftWord Books and the director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research. He is also the author of Red Star Over the Third World (LeftWord, 2017) and The Death of the Nation and the Future of the Arab Revolution (University of California Press, 2016), among other books.

This article was produced by Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

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
Smear and Shekels

By Gilad Atzmon

October 04, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - Haaretz reveals today that Canary Mission a Hasbara defamation outlet that was established to spread fear among undergraduate activists, posting more than a thousand political dossiers on student supporters of Palestinian rights, is funded by one of the largest Jewish charities in the U.S.

According to Haaretz; the Forward, an American Jewish outlet, has definitively identified a major donor to Canary Mission. It is a foundation controlled by the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, a major Jewish charity with an annual budget of over $100 million. We could have guessed the funding was from such an organisation. We somehow knew that it wasnt the Iranian government or Hamas who sent shekels to the Zionist smear factory. Haaretz continues, for three years, a website called Canary Mission has spread fear among undergraduate activists, posting more than a thousand political dossiers on student supporters of Palestinian rights. The dossiers are meant to harm students job prospects, and have been used in interrogations by Israeli security officials.

Canary Mission is indeed a nasty operation and far from unique. We have seen similar efforts within the Jewish institutional universe for some time. It might be reasonable to opine that smear has become a new Jewish industry. Consistent with the rules of economics, many new Jewish bodies have entered the profitable business, and these outlets have competed mercilessly with each other for donations and funds.

This is precisely a variation on the battle we have seen in Britain in the last few years. Almost every British Jewish institution joined the Corbyn defamation contest, competing over who could toss the most dirt on the Labour party and its leader. The outcome was magnificent. Last week at Labours annual conference, the party unanimously expressed its firm opposition to Israel and took the Palestinians side.

Badmouthing is not really a Zionist symptom. Unfortunately, it is a Jewish political obsession. In between its fund raisers, it seems that Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) invests a lot of energy in smearing some of the more dedicated truth tellers. Mondoweiss, another Jewish outlet, practices this game as well.

I, myself, have been subjected to hundreds of such smear campaigns by so called anti Zionist Jews who were desperate to stop the circulation of my work on Jewish ID politics. But these frantic efforts only served to support my thesis that the issues to do with Israel and Palestine extend far beyond the Zionist/anti debate. We had better dig into the meaning of Jewishness and its contemporary political implications.

Once again the question is, why do self-identified Jewish activists use these ugly tactics? Why do they insist upon smearing and terrorising instead of engaging in a proper scholarly and/or political debate?

Choseness is one possible answer. People who are convinced of their own exceptional nature often lack an understanding of the other. This deficiency may well interfere with the ability to evolve a code of universal ethics.

The other answer may have something to do with the battle for funds. As we learned from Haaretz, the Canary Mission is funded by one of the richest Jewish American funds. Badmouthing has value. You defame, we send money. Unfortunately this holds for Zionists and anti alike.

Crucially, in this battle, Jews often oppose each other. Haaretz writes that the Canary Mission has been controversial since it appeared in mid-2015, drawing comparisons to a McCarthyite blacklist. And it seems that some Zionist Jews eventually gathered that the Canary smear factory gives Jews a bad name.

Tilly Shames, who runs the campus Hillel at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, told the Forward that the tactics of the organisation are troubling, both from a moral standpoint, but have also proven to be ineffective and counterproductive,

Shames said that Canary Missions publication of dossiers on students on her campus had led to greater support for the targeted students and their beliefs, and had spread mistrust of pro-Israel students, who were suspected of spying for Canary Mission.

This dynamic can be explained. My study of Jewish controlled opposition postulates that self-identified Jewish activists always attempt to dominate both poles of any debate that is relevant to Jewish interests. Once it was accepted that Palestine was becoming a Jewish problem, a number of Jewish bodies became increasingly involved in steering the Palestinian solidarity movement. We then saw that they diluted the call for the Palestinian Right of Return and replaced it with watery notions that, de facto, legitimise Israel.

When it was evident that the Neocon school was, in practice, a Ziocon war machine, we saw bodies on the Jewish Left steer the anti-war call. When some British Jews realised that the Jewish campaign against Corbyn might backfire, they were astonishingly quick to form Jews for Jeremy that rapidly evolved into Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL). The battle over the next British PM became an internal Jewish debate. The rule is simple: every public dispute that is somehow relevant to Jewish interests will quickly become an exclusive internal Jewish debate.

Hillel activists see that Canary Mission is starting to backfire. Together with Forward and Haaretz, they have quickly positioned themselves at the forefront of the opposition.
By Roger Jordan

October 04, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - The United States, Canada and Mexico agreed late Sunday night to replace the quarter-century-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with a new US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA.

Sundays deal was reached after 13 months of tense negotiations and a final week punctuated by threats from Donald Trump and other top US officials that they would proceed without Canada and impose a 25 percent tariff on Canadian auto exports to the US.

Under the new deal, both Mexico, a country historically oppressed by US imperialism, and Canada, a lesser imperialist power that has long been a key US ally, made significant concessions in the face of US demands that the continental pact be refashioned to make it an even more explicit US-led protectionist trade bloc.

Both the substance of the agreement and the manner in which it was negotiated were meant as a message to the more substantial global economic rivals of Wall Street and Washington, above all China, that the US will use all the means at its disposal, including ultimately its military might, to prevail in the struggle for markets and profits.

The US was once the cornerstone of the post-World War II liberal order. Today it seeks to counteract economic decline and uphold its global dominance through America First economic nationalism and the ruthless assertion of its interests against ostensible allies and rivals alike. Tariffs, trade war and an insistence on bilateral negotiations, outside of the World Trade Organization (WTO), in which the US can more readily use its economic heft to threaten and bully, have become Washingtons modus operandi.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

With threats to abrogate NAFTA, Trump first cajoled Mexico into a bilateral deal, announced in late August, and then used this template and threats to exclude Canada from a new NAFTA to intensify pressure on Ottawa.

At a White House press conference on Monday, Trump boasted that his imposition of 10 a percent tariff on aluminum and a 25 percent steel tariff, and his threat to introduce a 25 percent auto tariff, had proven crucial to the new trade pact. Without tariffs, we wouldnt be talking about a deal, declared the US president, who then went on to mock those critical of his willingness to employ trade war measures as babies.

Significantly, under the USMCA deal Washington has not rescinded either the steel or aluminum tariffs on Canada or Mexico. These will be the subject of a further negotiation and remain in force, said Trump, until such time as we can do something that would be different, like quotas.

Trump threatens China

Underscoring the global implications of the new North American trade pact, Trump coupled his bragging with an attack on China and demands that countries around the world, from Brazil to India, cede to US demands for concessions on trade and investment.

The US president, who has imposed tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese goods, claimed that Beijing wants negotiations very badly, but that the US needs to inflict more damage on the Chinese economy first. Cant talk now because theyre not ready, said Trump. Because they have been ripping us for so many years, it doesn't happen that quickly.

The connection between USMCA and Washingtons economic war on China is underscored by one of the 12 side letters to the agreement. It grants the US effective veto power over any attempt by Canada or Mexico to negotiate a free trade pact with a non-market economy, a clear reference to China. This includes the right to transform USMCA into a bilateral agreement, excluding the third member if it has ratified such a free trade deal.

USMCA will also give Washington further leverage over monetary policy in Canada and Mexico through the creation of a committee to review North American macroeconomic policy.

At his press conference, Trump reiterated his threat to impose a 25 percent auto tariff under the same Section 232 national security provision that he used to implement the steel and aluminum tariffs. This included a specific warning to the European Union that if the US is unsatisfied with the progress of talks on a trans-Atlantic trade deal, Washington will sanction German and other European car exports to the US.

The latter threat comes after Trump used the auto tariff threat last week to successfully bully South Korea into formalizing changes to the 2012 South Korea-US trade agreement and coerce Japan into giving up its opposition to bilateral trade negotiations with Washington.

USMCA provides Canada and Mexico with exemptions from the auto tariffs, but not other future Section 232 tariffs.

As in the 1930s, the eruption of trade war is paving the way for a military conflagration. Trump and his advisers regularly draw the connection. On Monday, Trump said that the US will continue to use Section 232 to defend industries that are strategic, i.e., necessary for waging war. His remarks were seconded by Commerce secretary Wilbur Ross, who said the aluminum and steel tariffs against Canada and Mexico required a separate negotiation from the USMCA because they relate to US national defense.

Canada is the largest exporter of both aluminum and steel to the US, and in July it imposed $13 billion (CAN $16.6 billion) in retaliatory tariffs on US goods.

Continued US enforcement of the tariffs was just one of several major concessions Canadas Liberal government accepted, with the clear support of the most powerful sections of Canadas ruling elite, in signing on to the new trade pact. With three-quarters of Canadas exports going to the US and Canadas global position dependent on its military-security partnership with Washington, Canadian big business views its alliance with the US as pivotal to upholding its own imperialist interests.

Other concessions made by Canada include an extension from eight to 10 years of patent protection for pharmaceutical drugs, the opening up of Canada's supply management-controlled dairy and poultry markets to US imports, and the relaxation of restrictions on Canadians ability to buy products from foreign online retailers. US negotiators also achieved their goal of a sunset clause, although it was extended to 16 years from the original proposal of five years.

For its part, the Trudeau government is touting the removal of Trumps threat to impose tariffs on Canadian-made cars and auto parts and the retention of a dispute resolution mechanism contained within Chapter 19 of the original NAFTA deal, which provides for a bilateral committee to rule on trade conflicts.

The Canadian auto industry also expects to benefit from the changes the US dictated to Mexico on auto trade. These include raising the percentage of cars and auto parts that must be produced within North America from 62.5 to 75 percent before the vehicles can be traded tariff-free, and the phase-in of a stipulation that 40 percent of the value of a car must be built by workers making at least $16 per hour.

At their respective press conferences on Monday, both Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau tried to promote their reactionary trade deal as a victory for workers and the middle class.

The unions: allies of Trump and Trudeau

In this, they have enjoyed the support of the trade union bureaucracy on both sides of the border. Top leaders of the AFL-CIO and many of its largest unions have met repeatedly with Trump. They have endorsed his reactionary economic nationalism and in August they praised his bilateral deal with Mexico.

Jerry Dias, the president of Unifor, Canadas largest industrial union, hailed the unveiling of USMCA as a great day for Canadians. There are some incredible victories in this deal, enthused Dias, who has acted as a close and trusted adviser to the Trudeau government throughout the NAFTA renegotiations.

Dias and his fellow union bureaucrats on both sides of the border have for decades connived in the big business assault on the working class, imposing wage cuts, layoffs and attacks on benefits and conditions. They are celebrating USMCA because they think it will swell their dues income by forcing the insourcing of production from Mexico, driving Mexican workers onto the streets and expanding the multiple-tier, low-wage sector they have helped create in the US and Canadian auto industries.

This was spelled out by Dias, who, upon hearing of the initial agreement between the US and Mexico in August, stated: There is no question that Mexico will lose some of the jobs that they have managed to take over the years. So, I think this is a positive development for Canada.

It is nothing of the sort. The reality is that trade war and the promotion of economic nationalism go hand in hand with an intensified assault on the working class. Trumps imposition of trillions in tax cuts for the corporate elite has been mirrored by a shift to the right within the Canadian political establishment, as exemplified by right-wing Ontario Premier Doug Ford, who has vowed to outdo Trumps tax cuts to maintain Canadian competitiveness.

Workers must oppose the unions and all those who seek to line them up behind their own bourgeoisies under conditions of deepening economic and military tensions. Instead, workers in the United States, Canada and Mexico must unite their struggles for decent-paying and secure jobs and develop a counteroffensive in alliance with their class brothers and sisters around the world on the basis of a socialist program.

Copyright  1998-2018 World Socialist Web Site

This article was originally published by " WSWS " -

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
October 04, 2018 " Information Clearing House " - How crazy-stupid do you have to be to get up there on the podium and openly threaten Russia with a preemptive first strike? You dont have to be Kay Bailey Hutchison, but it helps.

Our Ambassador to NATO  as if NATO is an actual country rather than a supra-national parasite  claims that Moscow is in violation of the INF treaty, and that, while shes willing to give diplomacy a try, she is prepared to consider a military strike if development of the medium-range system continued.

So now the Ambassador to NATO is empowered to start World War III. Next well have the Postmaster General ordering an invasion of Iran. The Ambassadress has exceeded her authority and caused an international incident that may come to haunt us: certainly she has endangered us all. In a civilized country like Japan, she would literally fall on her sword, but Ill settle for her resignation.

Although Hutchison later denied that she was threatening a first strike, the meaning of her words is unmistakable:

At that point, we would be looking at the capability to take out a (Russian) missile that could hit any of our countries. Counter measures (by the United States) would be to take out the missiles that are in development by Russia in violation of the treaty. They are on notice.

This should put Americans on notice that, a) we are living in very dangerous times, and b) that the foreign policy of the United States has very little to do with the President of the United States. Commentators have remarked on what they dub our two-track foreign policy, and this is especially true when it comes to our stance toward Russia. What this two-track business means is that the Presidents advisors have done everything possible to obstruct his preferred policy  the policy he campaigned and won on, which is peace with Russia. They lied to him about the number of Russian diplomats to be expelled, they actively subverted the White House summit with Putin, and they have blocked his oft-expressed desire to get out of Syria and reach some accord with Moscow about the future of the region.

Are You Tired Of The Lies And Non-Stop Propaganda? Get Your FREE Daily Newsletter

This is very dangerous: when two adversaries are armed with nuclear weapons, and the wrong signals are sent  or received  the potential for catastrophe is unlimited. If Kay Bailey Hutchison is threatening Moscow on Monday, and President Trump is calling for peaceful cooperation on Tuesday, God only knows what will happen on Wednesday.

The Trump-haters point to this as evidence that the President is likely to lead us into war, but whos at fault here? Its Trump who wants detente  its the War Party (and that includes a faction of his own administration) thats seeking conflict.

One can see how were being set up for a major confrontation with the Russians by just looking at the expand NATO campaign now being conducted: first it was tiny Montenegro, which is a perfect venue for an East-West rumble. Now its Macedonia, where a referendum on a name-change had a mere 35% turnout: to be valid, it must top 50%. But for the NATO-crats, rules are made to be broken: the name change has been declared official and the road is paved for NATO membership, now that Greece wont veto.

I wrote quite a bit about Macedonia in the days before 9/11, and if ever there was a tinderbox ready to burst into flame over ethno-political conflicts, it is this country that George Soros takes such an avid interest in. The divisions there reflect the tribal battlefields in Ukraine, Moldova, Montenegro, and throughout the Balkan-Baltic corridor that rings Russia, and where the Slavic Byzantine sphere meets the European Union. This civilizational collision could easily result in World War III. One little slip up, a misreading of intentions, a nervous trigger finger, and  KA-BOOM!

Its hard for a country to conduct a foreign policy  or, rather, to change a longstanding policy  when its in the middle of a revolution. Which is precisely where we are today. The Trump presidency represents a sea-change in the way the US sees itself and its position in the world: a wholesale reevaluation of our overextended international presence is in progress. The Establishment moans that their beloved liberal international order is in danger, and that the only alternative is chaos: yet the supranational monstrosities that are the EU and NATO  the linchpin of this order  have only increased the chances of a major conflict. The aggressive expansion of both is clearly not a harbinger of peace.

Revolutions are messy affairs, and this one is no exception: the struggle for power at the top is bound to have consequences that can be neither predicted nor controlled. This one, which is upending the cold war architecture that has shaped our foreign policy since the end of World War II, is shaking our world  although one hopes we can avoid the violence that usually accompanies such affairs.

If it wasnt Trump, it wouldve been someone else who overturned the idols of the cold war era and ushered in the new age. Having reached the end of its financial tether, and poisoned itself with the conceits of Empire, the country is done with internationalism. The only question now is what form the new American nationalism will take.

A SPECIAL NOTE TO MY READERS: I had a great deal of difficulty writing this column, due to the extreme nausea caused by my chemotherapy. Therefore I wont take but a moment to remind you that our fundraising campaign has just gotten off the ground  and that the one way you can support my work is by making a donation to Antiwar.com. Its tax-deductible!

This article was originally published by " Anti War " -

==See Also==

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
Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met on Friday with the chairman and members of the Japan-Egypt Business Council at a business lunch held on the sidelines of Shoukrys current visit to Tokyo to participate in the ministerial meeting of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) on 6 and 7 October.

The Egyptian foreign minister had also delivered a message from President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on enhancing strategic cooperation between both countries, according to a statement by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Ahmed Hafez.

Shoukry reviewed the latest developments of Egypts economic reform program and the governments efforts to achieve comprehensive development, increase growth rates and lure more direct foreign investments, Hafez added.

The foreign minister also pointed out to several positive economic indicators, such as the expected rise in economic growth rate this year, the decline in total budget deficit, in addition to the slump in unemployment rates.

Shoukry noted that foreign investments in Egypt surged to $10 billion in fiscal year 2017/2018.

He added that foreign reserves increased to $44.1 billion during the current fiscal year, compared to some $18 billion in 2014.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


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
Former Vice President of the World Bank and Co-convener of the #BringBackOurGirls movement, Obiageli Ezekwesili, has been named on the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize shortlist by the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO).

Ezekwesili and the Extractive Industry Transparency International (EITI) received a joint nomination as one of five likely laureates, based on independent assessment.

Ezekwesili and the EITI are worthy candidates because of their efforts in making the world more transparent and less corrupt, the PRIO director, Henrik Urdal, said in a statement announcing the shortlist.

Explaining why Ezekwesili is a serious contender for the award, Urdal said, Ezekwesili, former Minister of Education in Nigeria and Vice President for Africa in the World Bank and one of the founders of Transparency International, has been an international champion in the fight against corruption. Ezekwesili was also the Federal Minister of Solid Minerals and the Chairperson of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), leading the first ever national implementation of the global EITI standards.

Even though transparency and anti-corruption champions have not traditionally been considered as obvious candidates for the Peace Prize, the statement said Ezekwesilis work is deserving of attention. A Nobel Peace Prize to the field of anti-corruption and transparency would be a welcome boost now that key actors such as the U.S. have abandoned the EITI by the wayside, the statement said.

Every year since 2002, the PRIO Director releases an eagerly anticipated shortlist of likely Nobel Peace laureates. In addition to Ezekwesili & the EITI, the four other nominees who made this years shortlist include: the World Food Programme; Dr. Denis Mukwege, Nadia Murad & Tarana Burke; SOS Mediterranee, Doctors Without Borders & International Rescue Committee; as well as the Reporters Without Borders.

The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize will be announced on Friday, October 5. According to the Nobel Committee, there are 331 candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize for 2018 out of which 216 are individuals and 115 are organizations.
Director-General of President Muhammadu Buharis reelection campaign organisation, Festus Keyamo(SAN) has thrown major shades at the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) leaders protesting against the outcome of the Osun state gubernatorial election,

Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker Yakubu Dogara, Chairman of the PDP, Uche Secondus, Sule Lamido, Senator Ben Bruce, Dino Melaye among others, were at the secretariat of the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) to protest against the victory of Gboyega Oyetola in the election.

Taking a major swipe at them, the Human rights lawyer said, those protesting are known masters of rigging and said the only reason they were protesting is because they were not allowed by INEC to practice their trade during the election.

He wrote:

https://twitter.com/fkeyamo/status/1048203453414236160

What some other Nigerians said

@TheBamainaBoy , @AWTambuwal ,@bukolasaraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara are right now at INEC headquarters leading a protest with regards to Osun elections. They want @inecnigeria to declare Sen Adeleke as winner with immediate effect. It's like these guys don't want peace.  Shehu magaji (@Shehuma62509697) October 5, 2018
Danish aid worker, Anja Ringgren Loven, took to Facebook to recount how her son has been protected and loved by Nigerian children tortured, abandoned by their families she has been taking care of.

According to Anja Ringgren Loven, her son has been carried by literally all these Nigerian children.

She wrote;

Since David Jr. ( my son ) was born he has been carried, literally, through life by all the children.

Children who once were tortured and abandonned by their own families, have protected and loved David Jr. unconditional ?

However the post led to an interesting conversation between the aid worker and follower, who alleged that same love isnt portrayed by Nigerian leaders.

On her own part, Anja Ringgren Loven stated that Nigerian leaders need to change their selfish games before celebrating independence.

Anja Ringgren Loven and her team, recently rescued three kids from death over allegations of witchcraft in Akwa Ibom.

The children, Ringgren Loven said, were about to be killed after being blamed for the death of their parents.

Her post reads in part;

Today DINNdhjlp/ACAEDF Director and Leader David together with our Education Officer Bassey and Child Development Officer Orok saved the lives of these 3 beautiful children.

Its been a very emotional day. We wanted to bring 4 children to safety at Land of Hope but one child was killed even before the team left our center 

But now Im just so happy that David and our team were able to save: Idara, a 7 year old young girl accused of killing her father.

Nsidibe, 6 year old boy and his brother, Ezekiel, 5 years old. Accused of killing their mother.

Superstition is NOT an African thing. From the late 15th century to the late 18th century a wave of persecution washed across parts of Europe. Tens of thousands of people were executed for witchcraft.
The Bankers Committee has warned Nigerians not to spray Naira otherwise would be sent to jail. It stated also that those mishandling the Naira will not be spared. It issued this warning during its meeting in Lagos, adding that the mobile courts would be deployed throughout the country to try those mishandling the currency.

Spokesman of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Isaac Okorafor said the police and the Ministry of Justice would be involved in the operation.

He said:

If a celebrant is dancing and you spray him/her, you may go to jail from the party venue because the law enforcement agents will be there, waiting to arrest you.

It is the duty of law enforcement agencies to catch offenders and take them to court. Our collaboration with the police will intensify as we move to implement the mobile court for offenders.

If you want to give, put the money in an envelop, and give it the celebrant. Lets know that anybody hawking and writing on the naira will face six months in jail or N50,000 or both.
Jeremy D. Morley concentrates on International Family Law. The firm works with clients around the world from its New York office, with a global network of local counsel. Mr Morley is the author of "International Family Law Practice", the leading treatise on international family law in the U.S., and "The Hague Abduction Convention", published by the American Bar Association. He is a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers and a former law professor.
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.
Damietta and South Sinai topped the turnout for highest screening rates in the first week of '100 Million Lives'

Egypts Minister of Planning Hala El-Saeed announced that 701,000 citizens in nine governorates were screened for Hepatitis C and other non-communicable diseases, as part of the '100 Million Lives' campagin, the largest-ever nationwide health campaign to eradicate hepatitis C.

El-Saeed's statements came during a a press conference that was attended by Minister of Health Hala Zayed on Thursday evening.

The planning minister noted that South Sinai and Damietta came on top of the governorates that witnessed high turnout to screening for Hepatitis C and non-communicable diseases.

The rate of women turnout was the highest among the citizens at 53 percent, while men stood at 43 percent. The age categories of those checked ranged between 26 to 45 years old,' the minister explained.

Some 4,000 medical teams are participating in the health campaign to detect and treat hepatitis C and other chronic diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity, she added.

The initiative aims to examine between 45 and 52 million citizens out of a population of 104 million.

The first phase of the three-phase campaign, which took off on 1 October and will last until 30 November, includes the governorates of Damietta, South Sinai, Matrouh, Port Said, Alexandria, Beheira, Qalioubiya, Fayoum and Assiut.

According to 2015 statistics, some 15 million Egyptians - or 22 percent - of then-population of 91 million carried hepatitis C.

Over the past three years, Egypt has been successful in the intensive use of a variety of new medications to combat the virus.

In 2016, the health ministry achieved a 96 percent cure rate of the disease nationwide.

The health ministry has vowed to completely eliminate the disease in Egypt by 2021.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Opinion Policies

Editorials are longer opinion pieces that are written by a group of community members recruited across campus who address relevant issues on a local, national and international level. Editorials are research-based. The purpose of the Editorial Board is to promote discussion concerning relevant issues in the community while advising on possible solutions. Topics are chosen via relevancy and interests of the members, which are then discussed by the Editorial Board in order to reach a general consensus concerning the topic or issue.

Feedback policy

If you have a grievance concerning the content or argument of the Editorial Board, please contact either Opinion Editor Peyton Hamel (peyton.hamel@iowastatedaily.com) or the Editorial Board as a whole (editorialboard@iowastatedaily.com). Those wanting to respond to editorials can also submit a letter to the editor through the Iowa State Daily website or by emailing the letter to Opinion Editor Peyton Hamel (peyton.hamel@iowastatedaily.com) or Editor-in-Chief Sage Smith (sage.smith@iowastatedaily.com).

Column Policy

Columns are hyper-specific to opinion and are written by only columnists employed by the Iowa State Daily. Columnists are unique because they have a specific writing day and only publish on those writing days. Each column undergoes a thorough editing process ensuring the integrity of the writer, and their claim is maintained while remaining research-based and respectful. Columns may be submitted from community members. These are labelled as Guest Columns. These contain similar research-based content and need to be at least 400 words in length. The following requirements should be met: first and last name, email and relation or position to Iowa State. Emails must be tied to the submitted guest column or it will not be accepted or published. Pseudonyms are prohibited and the writer will be banned from submissions.

Read our full Opinion Policies here. Updated on 10/7/2020
Learning how to code is a worldwide phenomenon, and Apple has worked to be at the forefront of getting people started with the effort for years now.

That is definitely still the case in 2018, and now the company is celebrating the European Unions Code Week, which starts on Saturday, October 6, and runs until Sunday, October 21 (which is decidedly longer than just a week). During that stretch of time, Apple will be hosting over 2,000 coding sessions at its retail stores throughout Europe.

Apple today announced it will offer over 2,000 free coding sessions during EU Code Week, running October 6-21, with at least one free session every day in every Apple store throughout Europe. Coding sessions are open to all, and are designed to inspire and help people of all ages and skill levels learn to code with hands-on interactive experiences. Sessions include How To: Get Started with Coding, Teacher Tuesdays: App Design & Coding Basics and Kids Hour: Sphero Maze Challenge.

Apple typically hosts coding sessions and workshops year-round, so these classes are just an additional benefit in light of Code Week. As is par for the course, these lessons are designed for just about everyone, from young to old, all in an effort to get more people to code and build the things they want to see in the world. Tim Cook, Apples CEO, weighed in on the announcement:

Coding is a critical skill that gives people of all ages the chance to create and share their ideas with the world, said Tim Cook, Apples CEO. Apple has long believed coding is the language of the future, and weve created a range of tools to make it fun and accessible for everyone. Were thrilled to offer thousands of sessions in Apple stores for EU Code Week, and cant wait to share our love for coding with young people and educators across Europe.

Apple has also created new lesson plans and more for EUs Code Week within its Everyone Can Code curriculum, which is a tool for individuals to learn Apples own Swift coding language.

Incredible Code Machine, a new Swift Playgrounds challenge, is designed for entry-level coders, while more experienced developers can test their skills on an App Development with Swift challenge or a Swift challenge in Xcode.

If you are in Europe during Code Week and want to check out one of these sessions, just check out the Code Week website, or from Apples main page.

[via Apple
Real Housewives of Atlanta stars Kenya Moore and Porsha Williams recently reunited and enjoyed a night out in their hometown on Tuesday as they attended the premiered of WEtvs new season of Growing Up Hip Hop Atlanta.Both moms-to-be posed together on the red carpet wearing a smile and showing off their growing baby bump..Mommas out on the town! , Williams captioned a gallery of photos on Instagram from the big night out, which was also attended by fellow Atlanta Housewives Cynthia Bailey and Eva Marcille.As for Moore, she shared the same photo on Instagram with the caption; "#about last night @porsha4real and me," adding the hashtags, "#hotmamas #babybump #growth #happiness #love #guhhatl @wetv"Meanwhile, Kenya also reunited with her longtime friend and former co-star Cynthia Bailey.Moore and Williams both joined the Bravo hit reality series in 2012 during the show's fifth season. While Porsha is set to return for the show's upcoming eleventh season, Moore left the show after five seasons.I have decided to take this season off to focus on my high risk pregnancy in a healthy and drama free environment," Kenya toldin a statement."I thank Bravo for this amazing platform that has allowed me to grow, flourish and appreciate the value of what is truly important in life."Kenya also thanked her fans for all of the love they have shown her during her time on the Bravo hit reality series in her statement. "And to #TeamTwirl: Thank you for your loving and relentless support  you will see me soon!" Kenya gushed, adding a reminder that her first child, #BabyDaly, is on the way.Photo Credit: Instagram
Egypts Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said the ranking of 19 Egyptian universities in the Times Higher Education list for the best 1200 universities for 2019 reflects the priorities placed by the government on the quality of higher education.

The new ranking, issued late last month, included 19 Egyptian universities, in comparison to nine in last years ranking, eight in the year before and only three in 2016.

"The Times Higher Education World University Rankings, founded in 2004, provides the definitive list of the world's best universities, evaluated across teaching, research, international outlook, and reputation, with data trusted by governments and universities, and are a vital resource for students in helping them choose where to study," the ranking's official page says.

The Times 2019 rankings showed a noticebale progress for some of Egypt's universities such as the American University in Cairo (AUC), Beni Suef, Kafr El Sheikh, Mansoura and Suez Canal universities, which were all ranked between the 601and 800 places on the list.

Alexandria, Cairo, Fayoum, Sohag and Tanta universities ranked from 801-1000, while the universities of Ain Shams, Al-Azhar, Assiut, Helwan, Menoufiya, Meniya, Al Wadi Al-Gedied (South Valley) and Zagazig ranked between 1001 and 1200.

Madbouly affirmed in a statement on Friday that the government has placed the quality of education services as a top priority for its agenda, citing great efforts being exerted in both the pre-university and higher education system.

The prime minister noted that a number of new universities in new cities will open soon in order to provide the highest level of quality education.

"The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2019 includes more than 1,250 universities, making it our biggest international league table to date" explains the Times ranking website.

The rankings "uses 13 carefully calibrated performance indicators to provide the most comprehensive and balanced comparisons for rankings trusted by students, academics, university leaders, industry and governments across the globe."

Search Keywords:

Short link:


MEDFORD, Ore.  Rep. Knute Buehler says he wants to focus on school funding, and says this is one of Governor Kate Brown's biggest failings.

He outlined several goals, including education, health care, homelessness, and bridging Oregon's rural/urban divide.

According to his office, the education plan includes:

- Classroom funding: increasing K-12 General Fund budget by about 15 percent over four years, and pension and health insurance reforms taht could re-direct an additional $1.2 billion in performance-based classroom spending each year.

- Improve Oregon's graduation rate to one of the top five in the nation within five years, through a combination of academic and funding reforms, teacher support initiatives, and a commitment to career and technical education.

- Return Oregon to the 180-day school year, up from the current 165-day average for schools in Oregon.

- Fully fund Oregon's career and technical education initiative.

- Improve Oregon's school negotiting system for recieving state funds

To see more of Buehler's campaign goals, click here.
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Go to form
Despite continual US drone attacks, and Security Belt forces operations, Al-Qaeda remains present in Yemen, and may even expand

Some Western analysts predict that Al-Qaeda will see a resurgence in Yemen aided by the Islamic State groups failure to establish an organisational base there and in spite of the setbacks Al-Qaeda in Yemen sustained at the hands of the Security Belt forces, also known as the Hizam Brigade, and in the wake of US drone strikes against Al-Qaeda strongholds.

Al-Qaeda activity in Yemen has increased noticeably in recent months, even if, according to international reports, the number of operations carried out by the organisation has declined to half of their rate a few years ago due to Security Belt military operations, one of the most successful of which was Resolute Sword, spearheaded by an elite force from Shabwa Province in February.

The organisations recent attacks have focused primarily on security checkpoints manned by the UAE-supported Security Belts in the governorates of Shabwa and Hadramout.

On 29 August, Al-Qaeda operatives attacked a Security Belt military checkpoint in Al-Mahasma in Al-Ahwar district of Abyan, killing five soldiers and wounding three.

The attack was followed by a security operation carried out by the Shabwa elite force against an Al-Qaeda camp in Khora, in Merkhah Al-Ulya district. Al-Qaeda leader Nayef Al-Sairi Al-Diyani was killed in the attack while three members of the terrorist organisation were arrested.

In addition to the counterterrorist campaign against Al-Qaeda in Yemen being waged by the Security Belt with Arab Coalition support, the US has sustained nearly continuous drone attacks against Al-Qaeda locations.

The Pentagon has stated that it carried out more than 120 raids in 2017, primarily in the governorates of Bayda and Shabwa where Al-Qaeda has the most fighters.

Nevertheless, there have been reports of attempts to bargain with Al-Qaeda as a means to end its presence in Yemen.

An Associated Press report, headlined US allies cut deals with Al-Qaeda in war against rebels, claims that the Saudi-led Arab coalition made secret pacts with Al-Qaeda fighters in Yemen, paying them large sums of money to leave key towns and cities.

The article also reported that some factions supported by the coalition have recruited Al-Qaeda fighters in their battle against Houthi forces in the north.

Under the provisions of one pact, some 250 Al-Qaeda militants were incorporated into the UAE-supported Security Belt forces, according to the AP investigation.

Arab Coalition Spokesman Turki Al-Maliki denied the report in its entirety, maintaining that it is unsubstantiated by convincing proof.

He stressed that coalition forces do not deal with terrorists, but rather fight terrorist organisations such as Al-Qaeda, the Islamic State group, and the Houthi Ansar Allah, all of which share the traits of subscribing to extremist ideologies and a refusal to coexist with the other.

As for Al-Qaedas sustainability in Yemen, as opposed to the Islamic State group, which was never able to gain a foothold there, according to a Yemeni source, the latter was never a real rival to Al-Qaeda in Yemen to begin with, because of the two organisations different attitudes and modes of operation.

In a recent policy paper for the Washington-based Middle East Institute, Elisabeth Kendall examines both the pressures on Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and its incentives for staying in Yemen.

Among the foremost pressures has been the increased rate of US drone strikes against Al-Qaeda strongholds, which has led to the erosion of the organisations bases of tribal support, as one of the effects of drone strikes was to arouse local hostility towards AQAP for attracting danger to the area where it is based.

The security forces that were recruiting members of southern tribes in the fight against Al-Qaeda also had a strong impact on the organisation.

According to Kendall, in 2017 Al-Qaeda released several formal statements, warning tribal members against joining the security forces. A third problem AQIM encountered in Yemen was weak leadership.

Its current leader, Qasim Al- Raymi, is less popular and charismatic than his predecessor, Nasir Al-Wuhayshi, who died in 2015 in a drone strike, Kendall writes, adding that evidence of this is to be found in AQAP media content in which Wuhayshi still features more prominently than Raymi.

The study cites two further sources of pressure on AQIM: communications challenges and decentralisation and/or fragmentation.

On the other hand, the same study suggests that Al-Qaeda still has many incentives for trying to revive its activities both in Yemen and abroad. Among those that Kendall enumerates are the need to reassert and prove itself, the need to avenge the large number of deaths by US drones, and Trumps decision to move the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem which, she writes, has sharpened the focus on hitting back, particularly given that AQAPs slogan has long been Jerusalem, Were Coming.

She noted that AQAP leader Khaled Batarfi briefly broke his long silence to issue a bloodthirsty call to Muslims around the world to kill every Jew as well as to take revenge on America and all those historically responsible for the Palestinian plight, including Britain and France.

She also notes that AQAP has continued to incite so-called lone wolf attacks in the West.

Despite of the offensive against Al-Qaeda in Yemen, the ongoing war will continue to fuel extremism and feed Al-Qaeda, even if the organisation remains remote from the point of focus of the battle in Sanaa and Al-Qaeda remains unengaged with the Houthi movement.

Funding may be one of the main reasons as Al-Qaeda has established itself in oil rich areas in the south, in Shabwa.

There are probably other environmental, historical and social reasons but, perhaps too, as some Yemeni sources observed, there is a political one, namely the former regimes determination to exclude Al-Qaeda from certain settlements.

One Yemeni source contacted by Al-Ahram Weekly suggested that the legacy of the relationship between the former regime and Al-Qaeda may have been passed down into the post-revolutionary period. Al-Qaeda was able to seize control of Mukalla while the forces of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh were there. Al-Qaeda departed in the same manner when government forces recaptured Mukalla. It is as though there was a single director for the whole show.

The source adds, in spite of the confrontations that are taking place at present and their results, the organisation continues to exist because of a security vacuum due to the disintegration of security and military forces in many areas and their replacement by local forces.

Despite the aforementioned relationship between the former regime and Al-Qaeda, the security and military agencies in the past would never have allowed the organisation to expand under normal circumstances or to seize control of a city the size of Mukalla.

The source also underscored the peculiarity of the situation of Al-Qaeda in Yemen, which favours its continued presence over that of other jihadist movements and which may account for its stance towards the conflict in the north.

That situation has its roots in the social/tribal composition of Yemen society. But the source also believes it is connected to the logistic relationship between Al-Qaeda and Iran.

That Iran serves as a transit point and shelter for Al-Qaeda operatives has contributed to keeping Al-Qaeda in Yemen remote from the centre of the conflict in the north in Yemen and from a direct confrontation against the Houthis.

At the same time, the organisation shares Irans animosity towards the US and the US allies in the Arab Coalition which, in turn, are also battling Al-Qaeda in alliance with the US.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 4 October, 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Al-Qaeda in Yemen

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Susan Kootnekoff is a lawyer with Inspire Law in Kelowna. The content of this article is intended to provide very general thoughts and general information, not to provide legal advice. Specialist advice from a qualified legal professional should be sought about your specific circumstances If you would like to reach Inspire Law, call 250-764-7710 or info@inspirelaw.ca.
EUGENE, Ore. -- People throughout the country have been getting to know the men and women who protect us this week, all part of Coffee with a Cop week.

The Eugene Police Department hosted an event at the Starbucks at Oakway Center. It gave officers a chance to meet with members of the community and show them they're here to help.

"It's just an opportunity for the community to come in to ask questions, to interact with our local police department, to build relationships, to network and just to show the community that we're part of the community as well," Captain Eric Klinko said.

They hope to host more of these community events throughout the year.
ROCHESTER, Minn.- Not everybody is excited about President Trump's visit to Rochester.

KIMT caught up with people protesting throughout Rochester.

One of the first protest was the Greater than Fear rally at Soldiers Field Memorial park.

Hundreds of people gathered at the rally to show President Trump that Rochester is a community of welcoming diversity.

We are here to be peaceful and show that we are united, said Amanda Jones.

She came from the Twin Cities to support protesters.

I just feel like we should stand strong, and if we stand together then we can fight people like Trump, said Jones.

Other protesters like Caitlin Matera walked with her daughter to show that women shouldnt be punished for speaking out against sexual assaults.

I'm a survivor and my daughter doesn't have to be a survivor. I believe all women and now is the time for them to start believing me and there should never be a reason why my daughter should have to be believed, said Matera.

Protesters marched from Soldiers Field Veterans Memorial park to Rosa Parks Pavilion, which is just blocks away from Mayo Civic Center.
Russia's deployment of the S-300 anti-aircraft defence system in Syria risks fuelling military escalation and hindering prospects for a political solution to the seven-year conflict, France's foreign ministry said on Friday.

Moscow said on Tuesday it had delivered the surface-to-air missile system after the downing of a Russian spy plane by Syrian government forces in September.

Russia accused Israel of being indirectly responsible for that act because the Syrian forces had been firing at attacking Israel jets.

"France notes with concern the delivery by Russia of sophisticated anti-aircraft capabilities for the benefit of the Syrian regime," Foreign ministry spokeswoman Agnes von Der Muhll told reporters in an online briefing.

"Amid regional tensions, the delivery of such equipment by Russia contributes to maintaining the risk of military escalation and removing the prospect of a political settlement of the Syrian crisis," she said.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online

Search Keywords:

Short link:


ROCHESTER, Minn.  A not guilty plea is entered in a Rochester stabbing.

Shamar Kenneth William Blunt, 20 of St. Charles, is accused of 2nd degree assault. Rochester police say he stabbed a man in the hand and chest with a small machete on May 4. The victims injuries were minor, according to authorities.

Police say Blunt and the victim were at a large party in the 2100 block of 48th Street when an argument turned into a stabbing.

Blunts trial is scheduled to begin on March 11, 2019.
ROCHESTER, Minn.  One of the men arrested after a running gun battle in Rochester is pleading not guilty.

Thaddeus Maurice Merritt, 19 of Las Vegas, Nevada, is charged with drive by shooting and 2nd degree assault. Authorities say he and a juvenile are accused of participating in a two-vehicle chase and exchange of gunfire on August 14. Rochester police say it apparently began on Colonial Lanes and continued about Oxford Lane.

No trial date has been set. Merritt remains in the Olmsted County Adult Detention Center on $150,000 bond.
ROCHESTER, Minn.  A man facing six felony charges is pleading not guilty.

Tyrone Padgett, 34 of Rochester, was arrested on July 27 after authorities searched an apartment in the 100 block of North Broadway Avenue. Officers say a handgun, ammunition, marijuana, methamphetamine, and drug paraphernalia were found and there was a child in the apartment as well.

Padgett is charged with two counts of possession of a firearm after being convicted of a crime of violence, 3rd degree meth possession in a public house zone, storage of meth paraphernalia in the presence of a child, possession of a stolen handgun, 5th degree controlled substance crime, and child endangerment.

His trial is set to start on March 11, 2018.
ROCHESTER, Minn.  President Donald Trumps visit to Rochester is being marked as historic.

His Make America Great Again really filled the Mayo Civic Center.

It was a sense of unity as President Trump walked in.

His visit brought in thousands, as well as the idea of what the Republican party can do.

America has achieved the biggest comeback in our history, President Trump said.

People tell KIMT they felt a sense of positivity as the president spoke.

Very inspired, always, Jan Alm, of Rochester, said. I watch all his rallies on TV, but to be at one is amazing.

I dont know how you could be here and not just feel amazing, Renee Smith, of Chester, Iowa, said.

By me showing up is just my way of supporting him, Matt Meyer, of St. Paul, said. Hes done so much for us and hes given the power back to the people. So yeah, just here supporting the president.
ROCHESTER, Minn. (AP)  Seeking to boost Republican turnout in key Minnesota battlegrounds, President Donald Trump attacked Democrats Thursday night, arguing that their "rage-fueled resistance" to his Supreme Court nominee will motivate GOP voters this fall.

Speaking before a cheering crowd at a rally in Rochester, Trump praised Judge Brett Kavanaugh, whose nomination has faltered amid accusations of sexual misconduct. Of Democrats, he said, "Their rage-fueled resistance is starting to backfire at a level nobody has ever seen before."

Added Trump: "Do we love it? We love it. Because people see what's happening and they don't like it."

As Republicans face a tough midterm election cycle, Trump is trying to boost turnout. The GOP is hoping to fend off a Democratic effort to recapture the House of Representatives.

Trump landed in Minneapolis in the afternoon and headed to a fundraiser before traveling to Rochester, friendly territory in the traditionally liberal state, where Republicans are targeting two Democratic districts but playing defense in two GOP-held districts in the Minneapolis suburbs.

Stressing the stakes, Trump said, "On Nov 6, I need your vote, I need your support to stop radical Democrats and elect proud Minnesota Republicans."

In a sustained attack on Democrats, Trump said they would raise taxes, increase regulations and stall economic gains. He slammed party leaders, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. And he accused the Democrats of desperately grabbing at power, saying, "They want to resist, they want to obstruct, they want to delay, demolish, they want to destroy."

Outside Washington, the focus still remained on the dramatic confirmation process for Trump's Supreme Court nominee. Trump told reporters he thinks Kavanaugh is "doing very well" as senators weigh a new FBI background report prompted by allegations of sexual misconduct. At the rally, he did not repeat his mockery of Kavanaugh's accuser Christine Blasey Ford from earlier in the week.

Trump earlier tweeted his support for Kavanaugh, who is accused of a sexual assault at a high school party, saying, "Due Process, Fairness and Common Sense are now on trial!" Trump has sought to use the Kavanaugh confirmation conflict to appeal to white men, arguing that the accusations are proof that innocent men could be unfairly targeted.

As Kavanaugh aggressively pushes back against allegations of misconduct, Trump mocked former Sen. Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, for quickly resigning over allegations of improper behavior.

"Boy did he fold up like a wet rag, huh," Trump said at the rally. "He was gone so fast. It was like, 'Oh, he did something,' 'Oh, oh, oh I resign I resign, I quit, I quit,' Wow.'"

Trump also criticized the low name recognition of Sen. Tina Smith, who is running to fill the final two years of Franken's term, and invited Smith's challenger, state Sen. Karin Housley, onstage to speak.

The outcome in Minnesota could prove critical as Republicans seek to counter Democratic enthusiasm in the midterm elections.

The president campaigned for Republican Jim Hagedorn, who is seeking an open congressional seat in the 1st Congressional District, a Republican-leaning area Democrats have controlled for 12 years. Hagedorn, who came close to unseating the outgoing congressman in 2016, has been an unabashed supporter of Trump and hopes the publicity from the rally will help put him over the top.

Trump also appeared with Rep. Jason Lewis, who is facing a close re-election race in the Minneapolis suburbs. But Republican Rep. Erik Paulsen, who is also fighting to hold a suburban seat, did not attend, underscoring the president's mixed popularity in the state.

Highlighting the high-stakes judicial fight currently under way, Lewis stressed judges when he spoke, saying, "Minnesota loves your judicial appointments."

The president's sinking support in the suburbs has put both lawmakers in a tricky position against well-financed Democrats. But in a new memo, the White House argued that candidates who distance themselves from Trump will suffer this fall. Officials contrasted Lewis' request to campaign with Trump with Paulsen's efforts to keep his distance. The White House believes Paulsen's rejection of Trump will sink his candidacy.

The White House memo acknowledges that Republicans are facing an enthusiasm gap, but suggests this is where Trump can make up the difference  for those candidates willing to take his help. Republicans who don't talk about Trump or his accomplishments, the White House warns, will make a tough situation a whole lot tougher.

Trump has used campaign rallies to try to boost Republican turnout, encouraging the voters he drew to the polls in 2016 to support more staid traditional lawmakers. Both parties largely view the 2018 contest as a race to turn out party faithful rather than an effort to attract new voters.

Trump spent much of the rally ticking off what he views as key accomplishments, including jobs and economic gains and exiting the Iran nuclear deal. He also touted ongoing promises, including his pledge to develop a Space Force.

At the conclusion of the hour-plus speech, Trump made an impassioned plea, bemoaning the "Democrat politics of anger, division and destruction" and telling his supporters, "this is your time to choose."

He added that his rise has been "the greatest movement in the history of our country" and predicted, "We are going to win, win, win."
MASON CITY, Iowa - United Way of North Central Iowa is kicking off their 2018 fundraiser campaign.

This year, the organization plans to raise $900,000 from now until the end of the year. Last year, they were able to raise $823,000, impacted over 19,000 people in North Iowa.

CEO Jen Arends says all the money raised will stay in North Iowa and go toward people and agencies that need it most.

"The money we raise in the 8 counties...we cover from Kossuth to Floyd, stays in those 8 counties and goes towards funding 44 local non-profits throughout the 8 county region."

In addition, while North Iowa has been a she says the need for money is growing, considering the growth of a segment of the population called ALICE, which stands for Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed.

"They're people working every single day. They might be in your checkout lane...they're struggling. They're making decisions like, 'do I go to the doctor, or do I keep my lights on this month?'"

Some of the organizations that benefit from the campaign include Family 2 Family Connect - One Vision Children's Autism Center, Charlie Brown Child Care and Preschool, and RSVP Reading Buddies.
GENEVA, Minn. (AP)  Farmers in southern Minnesota are hoping for some drier weather as they begin the fall harvest.

Some farmers have expressed concern about the possible impact that recent wet weather will have on tillage.

Michelle Miller farms east of Geneva with her family. She says wet weather hasn't significantly affected harvest because their approximately 1,750 acres of soybeans weren't ready anyway. Miller says their farm could use sun and heat for the beans to finish maturing.

Miller says the rain will affect tillage, which slows farmers down.

Ryan Hajek farms with his father near Myrtle. He says their farm is behind schedule from harvest delays due to the rain. Hajek is concerned that soybeans will be more difficult to harvest as winter nears.
The US has renewed its commitment to a political solution in Syria, but it is still doing nothing to bring one about, writes Bassel Oudat in Damascus

The US issued a declaration along with Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the UK on 28 September supporting the immediate formation of a constitutional committee to make progress in UN efforts to reach a political solution in the Syrian conflict based on Security Council Resolution 2254.

These countries also called on the UN and the office of the UN envoy to Syria to urgently hold a meeting of this constitutional committee and to begin drafting a new constitution for Syria.

It should pave the way for free and fair elections under UN supervision in a safe and unbiased climate where all eligible Syrians, including expatriates, have the right to participate, they said.

The declaration is a new US strategy which on the surface looks like a push for a political solution in Syria. However, at its core it also raises many questions, whether by not mentioning any binding mechanism on the regime or by including ambiguous statements, similar to the Geneva I Declaration, like holding elections in a safe and unbiased climate.

The declaration came days after US acting Assistant Secretary for Middle East Affairs David Satterfield said the US believed that reaching international consensus on rebuilding Syria would only be possible if a peace process was in place under UN auspices.

The Americans, he said, were also conveying this message during talks with the Russians. It coincided with statements by a US official that nothing would be done about the return of the Syrian refugees or reconstruction while President Bashar Al-Assad remains in power and there would be no contact with the regime through any international agencies.

The US and Europe have said that reconstruction in Syria and the return of the refugees will only be possible if the head of the regime and senior officials leave office.

However, US permanent Representative to the UN Nikki Haley said that Washington would not force Al-Assad out of office, saying that he would leave voluntarily even though this is obviously very unlikely.

The dichotomy in the US position throws a wrench into finding a solution to the Syrian crisis. The White House will not allow reconstruction or the return of the refugees if the regime does not change, but at the same time it is not willing to take serious steps towards removing the regime, whether directly or through a deal with Russia.

There is no consensus to use Chapter VII of the UN Charter or the principle of protection to disarm the Russian veto on UN Security Council Resolutions that impact the Syrian regime.

Syria is now divided into two parts: east and west of the Euphrates River. The east side is home to the countrys oil and gas reserves and is under the control of the US, while the west is controlled by Russia and the regime except for Idlib in northwest Syria which is under the control of the opposition and Turkey.

Syria is thus a divided country with more than half its population displaced. This may be what the US and Russia want, and it certainly pleases Israel.

The US is linking reconstruction in Syria to the political transition, which means continuing to punish the Syrian regime but without any attempts to sanction it or Russia.

Last week, one US official threatened to make Syria impossible to live in if the regime and Russia did not submit. This was not a promising statement for the Syrian people, and it could be part of a plot to exhaust the country while leaving the regime intact.

Al-Assad and his top officials will not be harmed because they have wealth inside and outside the country that will allow them to continue until the end. There is little prospect of prosecuting them or holding them accountable for the war crimes that have been committed in Syria.

Human rights activists including former US ambassador for war crimes Stephen Rapp, former prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia Geoffrey Nice, and former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay have listed ten conditions as prerequisites for reconstruction in Syria, warning European parties against cooperating with Russia or remnants of the regime in rebuilding Syria.

The opposition in Idlib, the last stronghold of the Syrian opposition, took to the streets in their hundreds of thousands recently and raised a single banner saying no constitution and no reconstruction until Bashar leaves.

Russia has asked the US and Europe to assist in the reconstruction and the return of refugees and displaced. It has called for the lifting of sanctions against the regime to facilitate this goal and attempted to reassure the Syrian refugees that conditions are now safe back home.

It has called on the refugees to return without fear, but it has refused to link the return of the refugees or reconstruction with political transition.

In January 2018, former US secretary of state Rex Tillerson made a statement that he said was a clear declaration of the US strategy on Syria.

Tillerson said that US forces would remain in Syria to fight the Islamic State (IS) group, the Al-Assad regime, and Iran, and that their presence in Syria was in the US national interest.

Al-Assads departure as part of a peace process led by the UN will create conditions for a sustainable peace, he said, adding that free and fair elections would automatically lead to his departure and that of his family from power forever.

Iran will also be blocked from achieving its goal of taking control of the region, Tillerson said.

Something similar is being promoted by the US today. It is clear that the Syrians will not return home soon, that the reconstruction will not begin, and that the US will not abandon its prerequisites for a political solution in Syria.

Neither will it put serious pressure on the regime. It seems likely that the Russians will not change their policies in support of the regime, and the climate of oppression will not change, at least not in the near future.

While others continue to meddle in Syria, trying out new strategies, the Syrian people are waiting for political, social and food security and an end to oppression. Only then can a democratic political solution in the country begin.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 4 October, 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Back and forth on Syria

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Jung Im helps me with my makeup at a shop in Gangnam, Seoul, on September 17.





Makeup artist Jung Im

By Dong Sun-hwa



Makeup tips abound but good ones are hard to come by.



So when encountering pretty K-pop stars, many people can't but wonder whether they do have some secrets.



So I took it on myself to find out from Jung Im, a veteran makeup artist with 20 years' experience.



Among Jung's clients were actor Lee Jong-suk, with credits in hit TV dramas such as "While You Are Sleeping," "Pinocchio" and "W," and Olympic figure skating champion Kim Yu-na.



Jung started with my eye makeup because I already had sunscreen, BB cream and concealer on my face.



"For this autumn, apricot-color eye shadows are the megatrends," said Jung as she applied it. She said makeup is largely influenced by fashion trends. These days, leopard-printed fashions are hot, and thus apricot colors that thrive on the popular style also are on the rise.



"People also prefer creating more shades on eyes to be seen 'three-dimensional,'" Jung said. She used similar colors in combination on my eyes too.



The artist then turned to eyeliner and asked me about the products I mostly use. I said I usually use black liquid eyeliner, sometimes with brown pencil to draw waterlines.



"First, I do not suggest you to fill out waterlines, since this could harm your eyes," Jung said. "You can put glitter under the eyes to give more vivid impressions."



Jung added that using khaki or purple eyeliners could add to attractiveness.



Before she began touching my eyelashes, she threw another question: "Are you good at handling your eyelashes?" No, I said, because I found it pretty challenging to use an eyelash curler every morning.



"Then I recommend you try an eyelash perm, which helps eyelashes have a 'C-shaped curve' for about 15 days," Jung said. "However, many are fond of the 'L-shape' these days and use mascara of a brown color instead of a black one."



She then revealed a tip that mascara also can be used on eyebrows. Since I have thin eyebrows, I usually spend a long time trimming them. Jung, however, advised me to apply mascara on the front part of the eyebrows, as it could make them look more natural and "strong."





Jung Im does my eye makeup at a shop in Gangnam, Seoul.
In a victory for human rights groups and European countries, the UN Human Rights Council voted last week to extend the investigation of human rights conditions in Yemen with a 21 to eight majority, despite objections by Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The duration of the investigation of atrocities committed during the war in Yemen has become an annual diplomatic quarrel, with Holland frequently demanding an investigation of the war, while Saudi Arabia objects to any international scrutiny.

Last year, the two sides reached a compromise by forming a group of experts to investigate, but the report issued last month angered Riyadh because it blamed the majority of deaths on the Saudi-led coalition fighting Houthis who are Irans allies.

Several Sunni countries, led by Saudi Arabia, have been at war since March 2015 against the Houthis (their official name is the Ansarullah Group) who are Zaidi Shia, under the pretext of supporting the internationally-recognised government of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.

Tehran denies supporting the Houthis even though Iranian official and semi-official media promote Ansarullah.

In the voting session, Britains representative Julian Braithwaite  whose country supports Saudi Arabia  said it is important to give the experts more time to investigate since there are many incidents that were not completely documented, especially those pertaining to Houthis.

Mexicos Ambassador Socorro Flores Liera said the experts should investigate the obstruction of delivery of food aid, and called on all countries to stop sending weapons to the warring parties.

Reuters reported that the number of those who died in the war is unknown, and the UN has stopped trying to count the dead for two years.

At the time, hospitals tallied more than 10,000 deaths. The Saudi-led coalition, which includes a strong presence by the UAE, has carried out thousands of air strikes primarily targeting Houthi military locations.

However, they have also killed many civilians, even though Riyadh and its allies declare they did not do so on purpose.

In a rare move, the coalition admitted responsibility for killing dozens of children in Saada in northern Yemen in an air strike, and promised to prosecute those responsible.

The war has also destroyed Yemens economy, which was already the weakest among Arab countries, pushed 8.4 million people to the brink of famine and caused a cholera outbreak.

UN agencies report that 3.5 million people will be added to those in dire need of urgent assistance. The UN has described the situation in Yemen as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world right now.

UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock told the Security Council on Friday that, we are losing our battle against famine.

He added: Today, there are areas suffering from conditions similar to famine, and in some cases, people are eating tree leaves because they cannot find any type of food.

According to UN figures, three quarters of Yemenis, or 22 million people, need humanitarian assistance, including eight million who are in dire need of nutrition.

The Yemeni riyal devalued by 30 per cent last month, which caused a sharp increase in fuel prices since it is almost entirely imported.

Meanwhile, UN Envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths told the BBC that the international community must take immediate steps to end deteriorating conditions in the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.

Griffiths said he was encouraged by the global response to the UNs warning of imminent famine, and how this focused minds on the urgent need for peace talks. Griffiths hoped he will hold more talks within weeks.

The military stalemate with neither side able to defeat the other further compounds humanitarian conditions.

Since the Arab coalition intervened in support of the legitimate Yemeni government, battle lines have remained the same with Houthis controlling the majority of the territories in what was known as North Yemen, while their opponents control the rest of the country.

Mohamed Al-Makhlafi, a leading figure in the Yemeni Socialist Party and former minister, said the situation is more complicated than Yemen can handle.

The warring parties have become politically and militarily exhausted, he said. They must sit down to negotiate; there is no other option for anyone.

Makhlafi explained how the tense alliance between Houthis and the forces of the late president Ali Abdullah Saleh finally disintegrated, and even led to Salehs assassination.

Meanwhile, those in southern Yemen are fighting the Reform Party, who are the [Muslim] Brotherhood in Yemen, he said. This means Yemen will likely see more divisions leading to more political fragmentation, which will be irreparable for a long time to come.

Since the early days of the war, there were attempts for a ceasefire, such as the 12-17 May 2015 truce, followed by the Geneva conference on 20 May that year, and the announcement by Yemens foreign minister 19 June that negotiations had ended without any results.

In late 2015 and early 2016, the two sides negotiated in Kuwait under UN auspices amid the December 2015 truce. In 2016 and part of 2017, former UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed attempted a complex mediation between the two sides, but was unsuccessful.

Months later, neighbouring Omans attempt at mediation also failed.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 4 October, 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: UN investigation in Yemen extended

Search Keywords:

Short link:


U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo addresses a meeting of the United Nations Security Council during the 73rd session of the U.N. General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Thursday (local time). AP

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) listens at the United Nations Security Council meeting on North Korea at the United Nations in New York. Thursday (local time). US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned Thursday that sanctions against North Korea must be "vigorously" enforced, during a Security Council meeting attended by the foreign ministers of Russia and China. AFP



U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned members of the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that they must "set the example" by enforcing sanctions on North Korea as China and Russia suggested the council consider easing the tough measures.

China and Russia said the council should reward Pyongyang for the "positive developments" this year with U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un having met in June and Kim pledging to work toward denuclearisation.

Pompeo chaired a meeting of the 15-member council on the sidelines of the annual U.N. gathering of world leaders after meeting with his North Korean counterpart Ri Yong-ho on Wednesday. Pompeo plans to travel to Pyongyang next month.

But until Pyongyang gives up its nuclear weapons programme, Pompeo said: "Enforcement of Security Council sanctions must continue vigorously and without fail until we realize the fully, final, verified denuclearisation."

"The members of the council must set the example on that effort," Pompeo said.

Earlier this month, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley accused Russia of cheating on U.N. sanctions on North Korea.

The Security Council has unanimously boosted sanctions since 2006 in a bid to choke off funding for Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The Chinese government's top diplomat Wang Yi noted that there are provisions in Security Council resolutions for the body to modify sanctions if North Korea complies.

He said that "given the positive developments" China believed the council "needs to consider invoking in due course this provision to encourage the DPRK and other relevant parties to move denuclearisation further ahead," using North Korea's official name of Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

However, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan said later on Thursday that the council resolutions on North Korea do not provide for any exceptions.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov backed his Chinese colleague. Lavrov said that "any negotiation is a two-way street. Steps by the DPRK towards gradual disarmament should be followed by the easing of sanctions."

He was also critical of several U.S. attempts to tighten U.N. sanctions on North Korea in recent months.

In July, Russia and China delayed a U.S. push for the council's sanctions committee to order a halt to refined petroleum exports to North Korea, asking for more detail on a U.S. accusation that Pyongyang breached sanctions, diplomats said.

Then last month, Russia and China objected to a U.S. proposal to add a Russian bank, a Moscow-based North Korean banker and two other entities to a U.N. Security Council blacklist, diplomats said.

"Further increase of sanctions goes beyond cutting off financing of banned missile and nuclear programs, and is in fact a threat to North Korean citizens and would bring extreme socio-economic and humanitarian suffering," Lavrov said.

Lavrov said the Security Council should send a clear signal in support of the positive momentum on the Korean Peninsula.

"This could be done, for example, by adopting a relevant resolution and we want to prepare a draft of such a resolution and propose it to the Security Council," he said.

Sweden's Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, speaking at the same meeting, agreed that the council should recognize that "recent progress has shown that is possible to diffuse tensions through dialogue and cooperation."

Diplomats have said the United States did not want the Security Council to issue a statement on the developments. (Reuters)
By Yi Whan-woo



The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Friday that the latest U.S. sanctions on a Turkish company are believed to have been made in line with Washington's strategy of pursuing dialogue with and sanctions on Pyongyang simultaneously.



The announcement came in response to the U.S. Department of the Treasury's blacklisting of Turkey-based SIA Falcon International Group, its Chief Executive Huseyin Sahin and General Manager Erhan Culha, Thursday, for allegedly breaching an international ban on the trade of weapons and luxury goods with the Kim Jong-un regime.



The two executives _ both Turkish nationals _ are suspected of negotiating weapons deals with Economic and Commercial Counselor Ri Song-un at the North Korean Embassy in Mongolia. The Treasury Department has blacklisted Ri as well.



The U.S. measures come as U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo plans to make his fourth trip to Pyongyang, Sunday, to reinvigorate denuclearization talks. Pyongyang has been disgruntled with economic sanctions against its regime despite its promise to give up its nuclear program.



"We assess the latest U.S. measure is in line with its willingness to engage in a denuclearization dialogue and discuss sanctions in a simultaneous and imperative manner," a foreign ministry official said in a text message.



According to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, SIA Falcon International Group and the two executives "blatantly attempted to flout longstanding U.N. sanctions against the North."



"Those penalties are intended to deprive the North Korean government of revenue for its nuclear weapons program," Mnuchin said in a statement. "The United States is deeply committed to the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea, and will continue to enforce and implement sanctions until that time."



The Turkish company is now barred from doing business with Americans and holding property or having interests in property in the U.S.



Even as the U.S seeks to have a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, it has been stepping up sanctions on Pyongyang.



Since the groundbreaking summit between Trump and Kim on June 12 in Singapore, the U.S. has imposed six rounds of sanctions on North Korea and those who are involved in illicit trade with the regime.



Meanwhile, calls to SIA Falcon International Group's head office in Istanbul seeking comment went unanswered, according to Reuters. It said calls to its branch office in Latvia were met with a pre-recorded message in Arabic.






By Jung Da-min







North Korea's premier April 26 Animation Studio recently released new episodes  Nos. 21 and 22  of its showpiece 3D history animation "Gojumong" that depicts the story of King Dongmyeong of Goguryeo (37 B.C.-A.D. 668).







King Dongmyeong is widely known by his birth name Jumong, with his last name being Go.







According to North Korea's propaganda website Arirang-Meari's Friday report, the new episodes depict Jumong's love story with Soseono, Jumong's wife and the mother of the founder of the Baekje kingdom (18 B.C.-A.D. 660)







The fictional love story between Jumong and Soseono also is widely known in South Korea, with the 2006 MBC drama titled "Jumong" becoming a hit.







The North Korean animation of Gojumong's story, however, is different from South Korean dramas in depicting details of ancient Korea.







For example, it features an ancient kingdom called "Guryeo." North Korea's history academics have been arguing since the early 2000s that Guryeo was a country that existed before the foundation of Goguryeo, something unfamiliar in the South.


Joint ceremony held in Pyongyang



By Yi Whan-woo



The two Koreas jointly celebrated the anniversary of the 2007 inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang, Friday.



This is the first time the two sides have jointly celebrated the summit between then-President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il since it was held from Oct. 2 to 4, 2007.



The second received less attention than the groundbreaking inter-Korean summit in June 2000 between Roh's predecessor Kim Dae-jung and Kim Jong-il, partly because cross-border ties deteriorated under the past two conservative governments here.



Against this backdrop, the guests on Friday promised to bolster efforts for peace and prosperity during the celebrations at the People's Palace of Culture in Pyongyang.



"The history of failures to fully carry out the June and October declarations should not be repeated," the participants said in a joint letter, referring to agreements reached at the June 2000 and October 2007 summits. "We should continue to proceed with the era of peace and prosperity to decide our fate on our own while writing our new history."



They also reaffirmed a commitment to implement statements jointly announced by President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong-un during their three summits this year.



Those meetings were aimed at freeing the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons and nuclear threats while expanding cross-border exchanges and cooperation.



Over 3,000 delegates from the two Koreas, including government officials, politicians and civic, religious and cultural leaders, took part in the 2007 summit anniversary.



From the North Korean side were Kim Yong-nam, President of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly, and Ri Son-gwon, Chairman of the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country.



Kim Yong-nam called for all-out efforts to implement the summit deals reached this year, saying: "They are the immortal achievements that will last throughout the history of the peninsula."



Ri expressed hope for the resumption of a tour program to Mount Geumgang and the operation of a joint industrial park in Gaeseong, the two major inter-Korean projects suspended years ago because of chilled relations.



The 160-member South Korean delegation was led by Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon and ruling Democratic Party of Korea Chairman Lee Hae-chan.



Roh Geon-ho, the son of late President Roh Moo-hyun, also joined the Seoul delegation. Former President Roh killed himself in 2008 because of a corruption investigation.



Roh's widow Kwon Yang-sook did not come to Pyongyang because of a conflict with her schedule.



The participants had lunch at The Okryu-gwan, which is famous for its cold noodles called "Pyongyang naengmyeon." They later watched mass games.



The Ministry of Unification estimated South Korea may pay up to 280 million won ($250,000) to the North for the trip.



The ministry said the payment is not a violation of international sanctions on the North and that the government has been discussing the matter with the United States.






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)


Japan informed South Korea on Friday of its decision to not join an international naval event next week amid a dispute over its plan to fly the Rising Sun flag, a government source said.

Japan had planned to send a warship to the International Fleet Review to be held at a military port of Jeju Island next week.

It said it would fly the flag during the ceremony, but South Korea has opposed it, citing public sentiment here. South Koreans regard the flag as a symbol of Japan's imperialistic past.

"This morning, Japan notified South Korea that it won't send a Self-Defense Forces warship to the Jeju International Fleet Review," the source said.

Japan's military instead plans to dispatch a delegation to a symposium to be held as part of the event, the source added.
Donald Trump? Hardly. Reconciliation between the Koreas? Rather premature. Peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea? Probably missed the deadline.



As the 2018 Nobel peace prize looms, it's easier to rule out names than guess who's going to win. This year the field of possibilities facing the five members of the Norwegian committee tasked with awarding the prize was pretty wide, with 331 individuals and organisations proposed for the prestigious prize, which will be announced on Friday in Oslo. And, as usual, despite the fact the list of candidates is a secret, predictions about who might win are gathering pace.



With the postponement of this year's Literature Prize for the first time in 70 years over a #MeToo scandal at the Swedish Academy, Friday's peace award has become the most highly anticipated Nobel announcement this year.



Looking at the odds on some of the online betting sites, you might think North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in were the front-runners for their efforts at rapprochement between the two nations.



But the Nobel experts -- who are more often than not wrong -- are scratching their heads.



"On the one hand, the inter-Korean breakthrough is I think the most dramatic thing in this field this year," said Dan Smith, head of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).



"On the other hand I wonder whether it would be premature to be giving the prize on that basis this year."



Apart from anything else, Kim's record on human rights hardly stands in his favour.



Trump? 'Inappropriate'



Could Moon get it on his own? "(He) did well, with the peace-promoting use of the (Winter) Olympic Games" in Pyeongchang, said Peter Wallensteen, a Swedish professor who specialises in international relations. But what of Trump? Certain international figures like Britain's Boris Johnson, when he was foreign minister, and even Moon himself have suggested the US leader could win the prize for his initiatives on the Korean peninsula.



At 7-1, the bombastic American president is one of three frontrunners flagged by online bookies Betsson, far ahead of other global figures like France's Emmanuel Macron, Britain's Theresa May and Russia's Vladimir Putin all with odds of 75-1.



Such a prize would be "inappropriate," said Smith, pointing to a string of decisions by Trump which "are very negative as far as peace is concerned", most notably withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement and the Iran nuclear deal.



And in any case, the only known Trump nomination submitted to the Nobel committee was fake, filed by someone suspected of identity fraud as only certain individuals are allowed to propose names. The nascent reconciliation between Ethiopia and Eritrea has also fuelled hope that a durable peace can be reached between the two neighbouring countries after 20 years of war.



For Wallensteen, the peace prize could go to Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed. But he only took power in April with his peace overtures coming to fruition this summer. That is a little late for the Nobel committee, which takes nominations at the start of the year.



Fighting sexual violence



Given the lack of certainty and the limited scope of progress on potentially prize-winning initiatives, some observers are turning to some longer-term contenders.



With the #MeToo movement raising global awareness about sexual abuse and harassment, the award could honour those engaged in the fight against sexual violence, such as Congolese gynaecologist Denis Mukwege or Yazidi rape victim Nadia Murad. Nominated many times in the past, Mukwege has spent two decades helping women recover from the violence and trauma of rape in war-torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, while Murad became an activist after being kidnapped by Islamic State group militants and held as a sex slave.



Henrik Urdal, head of the Peace Research Institute of Oslo (Prio), believes the award could go to the UN's World Food Programme (WFP), which feeds millions of starving people every year. From the battlefields of Yemen to the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh, "we are seeing now that hunger is becoming again one of the bigger humanitarian challenges of our time," he said.



Other potential laureates include the UN refugee agency UNHCR, jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi, organisations defending the media such as Reporters Without Borders and the Committee to Protect Journalists (RSF) and Russian human rights champions like the NGO Memorial and opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta. With everything up in the air, the verdict will only be known on Friday at 11:00 am (0900 GMT). (AFP)




Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin was released from jail on Friday after an appellate court suspended his sentence on bribery charges.



The Seoul High Court sentenced Shin, 63, to 2 1/2 years in prison, suspended for four years. Shin had been in a detention center since February over involvement in a corruption scandal that led to the ousting of former President Park Geun-hye last year.



The lower court sentenced him to 30 months in prison for giving 7 billion won (US$6.2 million) in bribes to a nonprofit foundation controlled by Choi Soon-sil, Park's old friend at the heart of the scandal, also now in jail.



The appeals court on Friday ruled in line with the lower court's judgment that the nation's fifth-largest conglomerate gave the money to win government blessing for its duty-free business.



But it ruled that Shin made the decision "passively" for fear that refusing Choi's request would hurt Lotte's interests. (Yonhap)




By Kim Hyun-bin



Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin was given a suspended sentence Friday after being found guilty of bribery involving former President Park Geun-hye, and was released from prison.



The Seoul High Court sentenced Shin to two-and-a-half years in prison suspended for four years.



Upon the ruling, the chairman was released from confinement after 234 days behind bars.



Shin was arrested and indicted for "donating" 7 billion won to the K-Sports Foundation, run by Park's close confidante Choi Soon-sil, in exchange for favors for Lotte group to obtain licenses to operate duty free stores in the capital.



The donation was made after March 2016 when Shin had an exclusive meeting with Park and K-Sports Foundation officials. But was returned in June that year, just before the prosecution conducted a search of the group.



The court acknowledged the 7 billion won as a bribe and declared him guilty.



However, it added that Park asked for the payment and Shin was in a difficult position to reject the demand.



"The president first requested the payment and Shin passively agreed. He feared that the group would face disadvantages in business if he refused the request," the court said. "As his freedom of decision-making was restricted somehow, it is difficult to strictly hold him accountable for the bribe."



The appellate court dealt with not only the bribery involving former President Park but also other corruption charges regarding his management of the company.



Shin was accused of helping members of his family take 50 billion won from Lotte affiliates in salaries, causing 130 billion won in financial damage to other affiliates.



The court partially accepted breach of trust charges, but cleared him of helping the family pocket the money.



Lotte Group released a statement shortly after the sentence was given welcoming the move. "We respect the wise ruling of the court. We will become a company that works to contribute to the country's economy and take societal responsibility," Lotte Group said.




Park Han-ki, the nominee for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), answers questions from lawmakers while participating in a National Assembly confirmation hearing in Seoul, Friday. / Yonhap



By Lee Min-hyung



North Korea remains the primary and most threatening enemy of South Korea despite the ongoing momentum for inter-Korean peace, Army General Park Han-ki, the nominee for the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), said Friday.



"North Korea poses a potential threat as a definite enemy to the South," Park said in his confirmation hearing at the National Assembly. Last month, he was nominated to lead the JCS to fill the vacant position after former JCS chief Jeong Kyeong-doo took office as the nation's new defense minister.



Park went on to express his firm determination to put a top priority on maintaining security readiness and sternly deal with any potential threats from the nation's enemies.



"I will do my best to establish trusted armed forces that can protect the public and the country," he said, pledging to remain tough on any possible attacks from outside forces.



When asked about his views on an inter-Korean military agreement signed last month, he said the bilateral decision was a move in the right direction in that the agreement included detailed plans for the two Koreas to ease possible military tension.



"I am confident that a potential threat for armed conflicts has declined particularly near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and the disputed inter-Korean western sea border, or the northern limit line (NLL)," he said. "I believe the agreement will serve as a turning point to ease inter-Korean military tensions and hostility."



The two Koreas reached the agreement last month during a three-day summit between President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The agreement outlines a string of inter-Korean military steps to prevent possible conflicts near disputed and tension-ridden areas.



Under the accord, both Koreas have started to clear landmines buried along the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) in the DMZ from Oct. 1, in a bid to turn the area into what they call a peace zone without any military tension.



He also dispelled concerns over the agreement as some argue the peace mood can weaken the nation's military readiness against potential threats from the North.



"I am well aware of the public's concerns, but the agreement is very meaningful for us and we have not made any concessions in it," he said.



The agreement is based on bilateral trust from both sides, so he expects it to pave the way for new momentum to alleviate inter-Korean hostile relations and possible armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula, the JCS nominee added.


At least two Palestinians were killed and 45 others injured including 18 by live Israeli gunfire on Friday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said, according to the WAFA news agency.

The Israeli army fired live bullets and rubber-coated steel rounds at the demonstrators who gathered at many encampments along Gaza-Israel border as part of the March of Return protests, WAFA reported.

Israeli army also attacked three protests in the occupied West Bank villages of Kafr Qaddoum, Mazra'a al-Gharbiya and Lubban el-Sharqia on Friday, injuring at least 11 by rubber-coated rounds including a 13-year-old identified as Khaled Shtewi.

Shtewi was injured in his thighbone, and was moved to hospital for medical treatment.

More than 195 Palestinians have been killed and over 23,000 others injured by Israeli forces since the outbreak of the March of Return protests on 30 March.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


By Lee Min-hyung



Japan's navy will not send a warship to an international fleet review to be held on Jeju next week due to the controversy over its flying of the "Rising Sun Flag."



"On Friday morning, Japan sent a notification that it would not dispatch the warship to the event hosted by the South Korean Navy," a government official said.



The decision came amid a fierce backlash from Seoul which asked Tokyo to refrain from joining the event with a ship flying the flag that most Koreans believe is a symbol of Japan's wartime atrocities.



Until recently, Japan did not show any signs of stepping back from its previous position by saying that the flag is the pride of the country's Maritime Self-Defense Force, so it would not use another flag despite opposition from Korea.



Despite a series of requests from Seoul, Japan continued to reiterate its willingness to take part in the event with its warship flying the flag. On Thursday, Kyodo News quoted Katsutoshi Kawano, the head of Japan's Self-Defense Forces, as saying that the country's navy would never join a fleet review without the flag.



The South Korean Navy remained in the hot seat amid the worsening public sentiment against Japan's plan, as it does not have authority to restrict extraterritoriality. Under international law, South Korea cannot impose any legal sanctions on Japanese warships flying the Rising Sun Flag.



The Navy, for this reason, requested Japan to refrain from flying the flag during the upcoming event, and instead, raise the country's national flag in consideration of public sentiment here.



The International Fleet Review will take place from Oct. 10 to 14 on Korea's southern resort island of Jeju. Fifteen nations  including Japan, China and the United States  were invited to the event.



NK vents rage against Japan



On Friday, North Korea also stepped up criticism of Japan, calling for the South to disallow the participation of a Japanese warship flying the flag.



"The South should sternly disapprove of the plan, rather than requesting the country not to carry the flag," Uriminzokkiri, a North Korean propaganda website, said.



"The plan to join the review with the Rising Sun Flag is an act of intolerable insult to the Korean people and international society," it said.



Pyongyang also voiced complaints against Seoul for hosting the event, and inviting 15 countries from around the world.



"Seoul's plan to hold the event is against the ongoing mood for peace on the Korean Peninsula," it said.



Maeari, a pro-North Korean media outlet, demanded the South disallow Japan's participation to reflect the strong backlash from the public.



"The Rising Sun Flag symbolizes Japan's heinous past wrongdoings as a war criminal," it said. "South Korea should take stern measures by disallowing the participation of the Japanese warship carrying the flag."



Amid the escalating controversy, Rep. Lee Seok-hyun of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea proposed Tuesday revisions to existing regulations to ban vessels carrying the controversial flag from navigating the South's territorial waters.



He also proposed a revision to punish those who manufacture, wear or spread any items symbolizing Japan's wartime atrocities by imposing a fine of up to 3 million won ($2,650) or a prison term of less than two years.


Lee Myun-bak de-facto owner of DAS, court says

By Lee Suh-yoon



A Seoul court sentenced former President Lee Myung-bak to 15 years in prison after finding him guilty on charges of embezzlement and bribery, Friday.



The Seoul Central District Court recognized DAS, an auto-parts company set up under his elder brother's name, as actually being owned by the former president, ending more than a decade of controversy.



It also ordered Lee to return 8.2 billion won ($7.4 million) of illicit gains, and fined him 13 billion won. Last month, prosecutors had demanded a 20-year jail sentence for the former president.



Lee, a former Hyundai executive and the nation's president from 2008 to 2013, was arrested in March on multiple charges, including embezzling 24.6 billion won from DAS from 1994 to 2006, and creating a 24 billion won slush fund.



The money was used for personal expenses and funding Lee's political campaigns, the court said.



The court ruled that Lee was the de-facto owner of DAS, the main point of contention in the case.



"Former President Lee Myung-bak is the de-facto owner of DAS and it is clear that he ordered the creation of the slush fund," Chief Judge Jung Gye-sun said in a nationally televised verdict, citing testimony and evidence collected from Lee's former aides and DAS employees. "The relevant parties inside DAS considered the firm to be Lee's property and took his opinion into account in key decisions."



The court recognized 23 billion won as funds Lee embezzled from DAS. He was also found guilty of accepting around 2 billion won in bribes from people he appointed as proportional representation lawmakers or heads of public institutions.



The biggest bribery charge Lee was found guilty of involved Samsung Electronics. In return for pardoning Samsung Group Chairman Lee Gun-hee, Lee had the electronics giant pay for DAS's legal fees in the U.S., which came to 61 billion won.



"Lee owned DAS and embezzled 24.6 billion won over a long time," Jung said. "While digging into the allegations, more crimes were revealed, so he hugely disappointed people who supported him and the entire nation."



She said Lee denied all the allegations despite the objective evidence and reliable testimony, claiming the involved figures were framing him. "Considering all this, harsh punishment is inevitable."



Lee denied all the charges in the lead-up to the verdict, calling the testimony of DAS employees "a plot." He also refused to show up at the courthouse after hearing it would be nationally televised, citing health problems and the need to uphold the "national image."



His downfall closely mirrors that of former President Park Geun-hye, a conservative icon like Lee. Park has been sentenced to over three decades in jail on multiple charges of corruption and abuse of power, mainly revolving around her corrupt ties to the nation's conglomerates.


Owners of dog meat farms hold a rally near Cheong Wa Dae, Aug. 28, to protest the government's move to take dogs off the list of livestock, which may lead to the closure of their farms. / Korea Times photo by Kang Seung-woo



This is the second in a two-part series on the nation's dog meat culture and people involved in it.  ED.



By Kang Seung-woo



Dog farm owners are up in arms following the government's recent move to take dogs off the list of livestock, which is expected to shutdown their farms.



At a rally in late August, in which some 300 dog farm owners participated, they claimed the government's move would threaten the livelihoods of 17,000 owners. They said animal rights groups' claims that it is illegal to run a dog farm for meat for human consumption were wrong because dogs are categorized as livestock.



While the number of people eating the nation's traditional delicacy is decreasing, it seems people think outlawing dog meat consumption is a different issue, as a recent poll showed 51.5 percent were against a law banning dog meat consumption compared to 39.7 percent favoring it, according to Cheong Wa Dae.



Joo Young-bong, the secretary general of the association of dog farm owners, claims that current anti-dog meat campaigns are the West's bid to end the nation's long-historied dining culture and culturally colonize the East in the guise of animal protection.



He said Britain and other European countries are trying to export dogs to the East. "However, just selling dogs is not lucrative, so they are also selling food, goods and even pet funerals," he told The Korea Times in a recent interview. "In short, in order to benefit their pet industry, Western countries are focused on animal rights campaigns happening here."



Joo also claimed that campaigns against dog meat consumption here are led by "fake" animal rights activists linked to big companies in the multinational pet industry that sponsor them _ a claim activists deny.



"A majority of animal rights groups here place their priority on receiving a large sum of donations over rescuing and taking care of animals in need," he said.



"A combined annual donation of the nation's three major organizations surpasses 10 billion won ($8.82 million). However, a small amount of the money, or 200 million won, is practically spent on animals."



Dog meat can contribute to inter-Korean ties



In line with the government's efforts to improve inter-Korean ties, the association plans to send tens of thousands of dogs to North Korea for its starving people, believing it will help the two Koreas become closer.



"One of the most popular dishes in North Korea is dog meat, so we are willing to send 100,000 dogs there and hold an inter-Korean dog meat festival," Joo said.



Unlike South Korea, a variety of dog meat recipes have developed in the North as its former leaders are said to have enjoyed it.



"There is no better way than serving food in terms of creating a strong relationship," Joo said. "In that respect, if we send dogs _ alive or slaughtered, depending on the situation _ to the North, its people would appreciate our good intentions.



"Considering such possible effects, dog meat could play a key role in ushering in an era of a unified Korea. That is why I call dog meat 'unification food.'"



The secretary general, who doubles as a pastor in the southwest city of Gwangju, is confident that dog meat has the potential to be like kimchi that globally receives rave reviews from foreigners.



"When foreigners try kimchi for the first time, they have trouble eating it, but after understanding its effects, they become fond of it," Joo said. "Dog meat can also take the same path. It can assure us of our cultural identity."



The owners' association has already proposed to the Seoul government the idea of sending dogs to the North.




GAC Motor presents its new GS5 SUV during the press day of the Paris Motor Show, Tuesday. / AFP-Yonhap



By Nam Hyun-woo



PARIS -- Not only global auto titans but also fresh names were available at the 2018 Paris Motor Show, with China's GAC Motor and Vietnam's VinFast preparing to enter the Europe market.



During a media preview of the event on Tuesday, GAC Motor had its Paris Motor Show debut, introducing eight cars highlighted by the new GS5 SUV and the Enverge crossover concept.



The young Chinese automaker was established in 2008 as the first large state-owned automotive group in China. Having a market share of approximately 7 percent, GAC is regarded as a premium brand in China for its quality and design, maintaining the title of the highest-ranking Chinese brand in J.D. Power Asia Pacific China Initial Quality Study for the sixth consecutive year.



From the company's early days of establishment, GAC Motor has been seeking a foothold in the European market, and had its name recognized by Europeans in 2014 as the previous generation of GS5s traveling from Guangzhou to Paris to commemorate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China and France.



Upon the brand's return to Paris, GAC President Yu Jun said "this is GAC Motor's first trip to the Paris Motor Show, and we hope to communicate and learn from fellow world-leading car brands on this incredible platform and introduce the GAC Motor brand to more people."



At the show, the Chinese manufacturer unveiled the GS5 as a world premiere. GAC Vice President Zhang Fan said it is the latest and strongest product of the company and is designed to meet demands for practical mobility, premium performance and reasonable prices at the same time.



"We hope to resonate the bond between GAC and customers with the GS5," he said.



According to the vice president, the GS5 is designed to give an impression of "taking off," with its headlamps symbolizing wings. It is powered by a 1.5T GDI high-performance engine coupled with a six-speed transmission.



The vehicle interior is highlighted by a 2-millimeter-thin touchscreen in the center console, as well as a smartphone-controlled air conditioning system, though several car experts at the show said the user interface system of the car still has a lot of room to improve.



The company did not specify its plans for European sales, but Yu said the company is "eagerly looking forward to seeing GAC Motor vehicles on the streets in Europe."





Vietnamese carmaker VinFast presents the LUX SA 2.0 SUV during the press day of the Paris Motor Show, Tuesday. / EPA-Yonhap
Hong Jae-eun, chief strategy officer of NongHyup Financial Group



Financial group mobilizes NH Investment, NongHyup Bank for global expansion



By Park Hyong-ki



NongHyup Financial Group is looking to either acquire a firm or set up a joint venture to launch investment banking operations in Indonesia next year, said Hong Jae-eun, the chief strategy officer (CSO) of the agriculture financial holding company.



He said the group is currently in talks with two potential companies in Indonesia, and it is seeking to acquire or establish a joint venture in investment banking with one of them.



"We may reach a substantial deal next year," Hong said in an interview with The Korea Times at his office in Seoul.



"The group wants to do more deals in Southeast Asia and China, following NongHyup Bank's recent acquisition of SAMIC for 10 billion won in Cambodia."



SAMIC, a Cambodian microfinance institution with 10 branches, was renamed NongHyup Finance Cambodia early September. The acquisition of SAMIC in August 2018 marks the group's first overseas deal.



The group will also likely set up a joint venture with China Co-op Group, part of All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives, in China next year.



"Entering China via a joint venture partnership with China Co-op is an ideal way for NongHyup, given the huge size of the Chinese market," Hong added.



This is part of the group's 2022 roadmap for global expansion, said the executive, who is in charge of NongHyup Financial and its subsidiaries' global business strategy.



NongHyup Financial seeks to generate 10 percent of its consolidated profit from its overseas ventures by 2022, he noted.



"We have the plan envisioned by our Chairman Kim Gwang-soo, and so now it is time for action," Hong said.



"NongHyup seeks to expand mostly in Southeast Asia where it can help boost agriculture financing, investment banking, retail banking and microfinance. Our main Southeast Asian base will be Vietnam."



Vietnam's population is "young," with a vibrant agriculture industry, he explained, adding there are a lot of Korean companies seeking to enter the market there.



NongHyup Financial's NongHyup Bank opened a branch in Hanoi in 2016, and is preparing to launch another one in Ho Chi Minh City.



Under Vietnam's regulations, a foreign financial company can be incorporated there after opening two branches in two years.



"After the bank's incorporation in Vietnam, we could then pursue acquisitions to boost our retail banking operations," the CSO said.



It will further make inroads into other Southeast Asian markets where there are high agricultural populations and where they seek to modernize farming.



With the group's "ammunition" worth 200 trillion won ($180 billion) available for expansion, he said it will mobilize NongHyup Bank and NH Investment & Securities to identify, acquire and invest in targets as part of efforts to boost its investment banking in Southeast Asia.



NH Investment & Securities will be sourcing deals from its Hong Kong unit with financial backing from NongHyup Bank and the group.



But Hong noted it would most likely use global networks of professional services or accounting firms for deal making during its initial stages of expansion in areas such as Indonesia and Cambodia.





NongHyup Bank CEO Lee Dae-hoon, fourth from right, cuts the tape to launch NongHyup Finance Cambodia in Phnom Penh, Sept. 11, after acquiring SAMIC, a Cambodian microfinance institution, in August. Courtesy of NongHyup Bank




By Lee Min-young







Girl group Mamamoo will make its official Japanese debut Wednesday with the Japanese version of its hit song "Decalcomanie" and a new song "You Don't Know Me."







After the songs' release in Japan on Oct. 4, the group will perform in Osaka on Oct. 5, Tokyo on Oct. 7 and Nagoya on Oct. 9, according to agency RBW.







The four member K-pop act made its debut in 2014 with "Mr. Ambiguous." Its hits include "Decalcomanie," "Piano Man," "Um Oh Ah Yeh,""Yes, I am," and "Starry Night."


By Lee Sun-ho







Looking back over the 20th century, I can remember two memorable and specific years: 1958 and 1971. It is somewhat intriguing for me to review what happened during the two different years, with respect to their influence on current human circumstances.







On the one hand, 1958 was the year of the dog. Aug. 15 marked the 10th anniversary of the Republic of Korea, the solely recognized nation on the Korean Peninsula authorized by the United Nations. People born in that year are currently performing key roles in every field.







During the year of the dog, I remember three events. Stereo recordings became available. Likewise, hula hoops turned into a national fad, and the "Cha Cha Cha" became a dance craze.







On the other hand, 1971 was the year of the pig, when my second son was born on May 30 in Manila where I was assigned to work at the Asian Development Bank.







On March 27, 1958, Nikita Khrushchev became Premier of the Soviet Union while U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower became the first American elected official to be broadcast on color television on May 22. "Ping Pong Diplomacy" was realized between the United States and the Red China on April 10, 1971.







I have good memories of other world-important events during December in the year of the pig. Bangladesh was able to achieve independence renaming itself from East Pakistan after the short-lasting Indian-Pakistani war, and the United Arab Emirates was created independently from the United Kingdom.







Even though we may be unconscious of bygone years such as 1958 and 1971 during the 20th century impacting present-day human communities, we live here and now and look forward to the betterment of the ever-changing human world hereafter during the 21st century, I believe. Let us not forget that "turbulent old days" were important moments of trials and errors, also.









Lee Sun-ho (





kexim2@unitel.co.kr ) is an ombudsman columnist for The Korea Times in Seoul.
By Jorge G. Castaneda







MEXICO CITY  Brazil's upcoming presidential election  its ninth since the restoration of democracy in 1985  will take place against a bleak background, and not just because the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro was recently destroyed in a fire, or even because the economic recovery is faltering. With myriad judicial and corruption scandals distorting the electoral process, there is now a growing disconnect between justice and democracy.







The question of which will prevail has already received a partial response. In the wake of the Operation Car Wash (Operacco Lava Jato) corruption scandal  which, since breaking in 2014, has rocked Brazil's political class, business sector, and judicial system  former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was convicted of corruption. With his case still under appeal, he now languishes in a prison cell serving a 12-year sentence.







Nonetheless, Lula, who remains Brazil's most popular politician, wants to run for president. Earlier last month, electoral authorities decided that he could not, because of Brazil's "clean slate" law  signed by Lula himself during his second term  which prohibits anyone with an upheld conviction for corruption from seeking public office. A large segment of the Brazilian public supported the decision to keep Lula out of the race.







Yet there are still plenty of Brazilians  and foreign observers, including me  who harbor serious doubts, for two key reasons.







First, Lula is in prison for a relatively trivial offense (at least for now), and he was convicted by a lower court. Striking the frontrunner from the ballot for relatively minor misdeeds relating to a highly politicized case is an excessive and dubious maneuver that is likely to disappoint and even enrage the millions of Brazilians who still venerate Lula.







Second, as a practical matter, keeping Lula off the ballot increases the odds that Jair Bolsonaro  a former paratrooper known for his homophobic, sexist, racist, and quasi-fascist stances  will prevail.







To be sure, while Bolsonaro was the front-runner before the final decision on Lula's eligibility, subsequent polls indicated that, in the expected run-off vote, Bolsonaro would be defeated easily by most other candidates. But everything changed on September 6, when Bolsonaro was the victim of a failed assassination attempt that forced him to suspend his campaign for several weeks. He underwent several operations, barely survived, and benefited from a surge of sympathy. Today, some polls have him securing over 30 percent of the vote in the first round, more than twice that of other candidates.







As for Lula, he now has little choice but to throw his support behind his running mate, Fernando Haddad, who has served as mayor of Sao Paulo and education minister. But while Lula's support has boosted Haddad's standing  he is now roughly tied with most of the other contenders  he remains well behind Bolsonaro in the polls.







Of course, it is possible that the situation will change drastically in the second-round run-off. In France in 2002 and 2017, the right-wing candidates  Jean-Marie Le Pen and Marine Le Pen, respectively  were soundly defeated when voters rallied behind their second-round opponents. Indeed, Jacques Chirac in 2002 and Emmanuel Macron in 2017 each received the support of practically everyone on the initial ballot, across the political spectrum, because none was willing to allow a xenophobic candidate to win the presidency.







But there is no guarantee that Brazilians will rally around Bolsonaro's opponent in the same way, or that his advantage in the first round will not be too great to be overcome in the run-off. In either scenario, Brazil would end up with an extremist president who has praised the military dictatorship of the 1960s and 1970s, because the only candidate who could have beaten him was struck from the ballot. Brazilian democracy could be destroyed because justice was upheld.







In an ideal world, justice and democracy always go hand in hand. But in the real world, we have to make tough calls, considering what we are willing to sacrifice for the greater good. For Brazil today, that means asking whether enforcing a strict interpretation of the law and punishing anyone who engages in corrupt practices is worth inviting a potential threat to democracy.







Many distinguished Brazilians with impeccable democratic credentials, such as Lula's predecessor, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, argue that the law must be respected at all costs. This is not an easy argument to dismiss, especially given the possibility that Bolsonaro could still lose the election  a win-win outcome.







But the risks created by adhering to this approach cannot be dismissed, either. From Hungary and Poland to Italy and Germany, not to mention the United States, extreme right-wing, authoritarian, populist, and anti-establishment political forces have gained power  or at least increased their influence over the government  by participating in democratic elections. Once in power, they subvert democratic institutions. In Hungary, for example, Prime Minister Viktor Orban has taken advantage of his party's parliamentary majority to stack the courts with loyalists, seize control of public media, and amend the constitution to weaken his opponents.







Against this background, we must ask ourselves a question that has no easy answer: To what extent should democrats  progressives and conservatives alike  bend the rules in order to protect democracy and the rule of law from those who seek to subvert it?





If it were up to me, I would have permitted Lula to participate in the upcoming election, thereby ensuring that Brazil's democracy is safe from Bolsonaro. Plenty of people who are just as committed to democracy as I am might disagree. In any case, we can now only hope that Brazil's newfound commitment to upholding the rule of law will not end up subverting it  and taking democracy down with it.







).





Jorge G. Castaneda, former foreign minister of Mexico (2000-2003), is professor of politics and Latin American and Caribbean Studies at New York University. Copyright belongs to Project Syndicate ( www.project-syndicate.org


Sexual abuse by embassy officials taints national image



Korean diplomatic missions abroad have come under fire once again for sexual harassment by embassy officials.



According to the latest media reports, two high-level officials at the Korean embassies in Pakistan and India are awaiting disciplinary action after an inspection by the foreign ministry.



An official at the Korean Embassy in Pakistan reportedly made unwanted sexual advances to an embassy staff member and asked her to have drinks at his home after his wife had returned to Korea in July. An official working at the Korean Embassy in India reportedly made some inappropriate remarks to an administrative staffer, inviting her to his hotel room and asking her to join him for drinks. The two officials have been dismissed from their positions and are awaiting a decision by the ministry's disciplinary committee.



The sexual abuse cases by embassy officials not only hurt the victims, but also taint Korea's image in their host countries. Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha took office last year vowing to curb sexual harassment at the ministry. But the nation's first female foreign minister has not been very successful in this regard.



The foreign ministry has been in the news for a wide range of sexual abuse cases. Recently, a former ambassador to Ethiopia was sentenced to one year in jail for sexual offenses against embassy staff. He triggered public outrage by claiming that the sexual intercourse was consensual. In another case, an embassy official in Chile brought huge shame to the nation for allegations of sexually abusing a local minor. After the case at the embassy in Ethiopia, the ministry announced a no-tolerance policy with strong measures for punishing sexual offenders.



It seems that the #Metoo movement sweeping the globe has had little impact on the ministry. According to a report by Rep. Lee Seok-hyun of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, there were 12 cases of disciplinary action against ministry officials, and half of them were in relation to sexual offenses.



Since a lot of the foreign ministry's officers and staff are women, it is particularly important for the ministry to strictly implement measures to protect its female workforce both at its headquarters in Seoul and in overseas missions from various abuses. In particular, it is necessary to conduct training about appropriate sexual behavior before assigning officers to overseas embassies. Only a small number of people work at the embassies, and unwanted intimacy could become a problem.






By Oh Young-jin



U.S. President Donald Trump recently professed his love for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a rather peculiar way.



Trump made his public confession as if his love was something like that between a man and a woman. "We fell in love," he told a West Virginia crowd, explaining their love had its ups and downs, tugs and pushes. "Really," he reassured the crowd when they laughed nervously.



Maybe his feelings of love can be dismissed as a result of a sudden surge of estrogen in his body  not atypical with old men  but considering the U.S. is a superpower and its leader is influential, it behooves me to check what love he meant, to the best of my ability. Besides, few have taken it seriously and tried to find out.



Since I have only a layman's qualification in psychiatry, I used the method of rating the kinds of love on a scale of the least to the most likely.



Brokeback Mountain



Truly, Trump and Kim are lonely in their own way.



Kim appears revered by North Koreans who may have few other choices  any sign of disrespect leads to a long trip to the gulag or a firing squad.



Trump is backed by his core supporters but others despise him. His key lieutenants have turned their backs on him and are trying to cooperate with Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller with his probe into Trump's Russian connections. Impeachment cannot be ruled out.



So the two lonely men may have found solace in each other's company, but their time together during their Singapore summit, their only known get-together, was short, with too many prying eyes compared with the Brokeback circumstances.



Platonic love



There appears little platonic about the two.



Platonic love stands for wisdom and beauty, and Plato opts for rule by philosopher kings.



Trump is impatient with reading and is ready to grab women by what, God forbid. He is also an elected dictator and is a transactional man, not a philosophizing one.



Kim is a dictator and third-generation king in a modern-day dynasty.



Between the two, Kim has a greater chance of getting to know about the Greek philosopher thanks to his European education. Trump attended a military academy, so he preferred Sun Tzu, author of the ancient "Art of War." Isn't Trump's book "The Art of the Deal"?



Besides, the two are known for their "destructive" tendencies. Remember earlier this year when they threatened to annihilate each other with nuclear arms?



Both are closer to Machiavelli than Plato.



Bromance



Kim and Trump have similar tendencies.



The two hit it off instantly. Their June 12 summit in Singapore showed their chemistry. Kim and Trump came up with an agreement that was criticized for being empty but the two showed rapport  a camaraderie of sorts.



Trump has spoken of his fondness for Kim on occasions before the latest confession. Kim's opening act has been more dramatic than anything seen during his two predecessors.



If the two are left to their own devices, they could reach the state of brotherly love.



Unrequited love



Whatever kind of love Trump referred to, it would likely end up as the one-sided type.



That is not just because Kim has not reciprocated Trump's love.



The two seek what the other side can't give to the other.



The U.S. wants the North to denuclearize, giving up something that guarantees its existence, while the North wants the U.S. to offer a safe way out of its isolation, something that is beyond anybody's ability, including the U.S.



That doesn't necessarily mean that their love can't be consummated. It only means the odds are formidably stacked against it. We will have to see what happens at their second summit.



So, will it become "Romeo and Juliet" or "The Taming of the Shrew"?


India and Russia signed a pact on Friday to develop six nuclear power projects in India, following summit talks between their leaders in New Delhi.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also agreed to cooperate on India's plan for a manned space mission.

Search Keywords:

Short link:




By Rachel Stine



Mask dance is an elusive aspect of Korean culture. Many visitors to the peninsula are vaguely aware of it; they may have seen a yangban mask printed on a bus, or noticed the iconic character faces that line Yaksu Station. But in a country whose nation-brand is largely connected to technology, K-Pop and ballistic missile-wielding neighbors, the delicate theatrics of mask dance struggle to leave an impression in the minds of tourists. Modern people are often more familiar with Myeongdong's skincare masks than they are the smiling yangban or pune.



But since 1997, the

has worked to promote this ancient art around the world.







In an interview, director of management Kim Juho said: "The mask dance festival is very popular domestically, but not in the rest of the world. When you think of Italy, you think of the Venice Carnival. If you think of Brazil, you think of Carnival. But very few people associate mask dance with Korea, and we want to change that. We want to make this event a worldwide one, and we want foreigners to imagine mask dance when they think of Korea's culture."







The festival is held for 10 days each October. Last year, it welcomed over 1.2 million visitors, with attendance records showing a steady increase in popularity.







In addition to promoting domestic arts, the event also features folk dance performances by international troupes. Thailand was given the spotlight this year to commemorate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Southeast Asian nation and South Korea. The 2018 festival mascot is a conjoined Korean and Thai dance mask named Janus, after the Roman god of time, gates and beginnings.







"In 2017," Kim said, "Turkey was the co-host. Each year, we choose a different country as a co-host. Usually it's to commemorate an important historical event."






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."




By Keyu Jin





BEIJING  The world's two largest economies  China and the United States  are engaged in a full-blown trade war, and what U.S. President Donald Trump hoped would be a blitzkrieg has turned out more like trench combat. Many fear that this is only the beginning of a long conflict that could include weapons  and casualties  far outside the realm of trade.







Since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, the U.S. has taken issue with China's large current-account surplus and the undervalued renminbi.







But over the last 10 years, that surplus has pretty much disappeared, and the renminbi has largely been appreciating. Now, the U.S. has shifted its attention to China's inadequate protection of intellectual-property rights and its policy of appropriating foreign technology in exchange for market access.







Yet, in China's view, what the U.S. is really reacting to is not only the specifics of its trade policy, but also its overall development model and its aspirations to become a major global power  aspirations that are not out of reach. In fact, the Chinese believe, Trump's trade war effectively proves that China has become a real and present threat to American hegemony.







Whether this is true or not is irrelevant; what matters is Chinese perception. Whereas in the past, only a few conservatives warned of U.S. attempts to "contain" China, virtually everyone in China now buys into this narrative, including a growing number of young people.







Having grown up amid prosperity and confidence, exposed to Western lifestyles and educations, China's millennial generation  born in the 1980s and 1990s  were supposed to usher in an era of even greater openness and freedom.







Yet these young people  who have previously reported much warmer feelings toward Western countries and Japan than their parents and grandparents  are having their faith in Western ideas tested by Trump's actions.







The real danger is that rising nationalism could embolden a contingent of the Party, known in China as the New Left, that denounces capitalism and its Western proponents, and calls for a return to the Maoist socialist order of 40 years ago.







On the positive side, it is likely to produce the political cohesion needed to implement structural reforms that shift the economy away from trade and manufacturing and toward domestic consumption.







As different interest groups and factions unite against a common foe, President Xi Jinping will gain even more political capital, facilitating the shift from export-led economic growth to a trade-neutral model. Tax cuts and the redistribution of wealth toward households are also possibilities.







This is not to say that China is not continuing to pursue its plans to open up further. Even as China raises tariffs on U.S. imports, it is lowering tariffs for other countries, in order to fulfill its promise to increase overall imports and bolster domestic consumption. And its impending liberalization of its financial-services sector will amount to its biggest step toward openness since its accession to the WTO.







Areas that will become open to foreign participation include banking, securities, insurance, payments, and ratings services. Restrictions on foreign investors' equity holdings or investments in services are being sequentially eliminated. Reflecting Xi's belief that "sooner is better than later, and faster is better than slower," at least seven of the 11 measures the central bank announced in April have already been completed.







Even as China continues its economic opening, however, it is looking increasingly inward, at its citizens to serve as consumers and at its businesses to adopt and advance new technologies. Many companies have already redoubled their efforts to increase their value-added and innovation capacity.







Whether Trump's trade war is about containing China or just about punishing it for its trade practices, the unintended consequence is that China is now fortifying itself for a new era of political and economic challenges. Yes, the country will find it more difficult to pursue the "Belt and Road Initiative," for example, or to export its excess capacity.







But in the longer term, reducing its reliance on foreign trade and imported technologies will leave China stronger, more resilient, and possibly less willing to acquiesce to U.S.-designed rules.







Sometimes the "loser" of a trade war ends up better off than the "winner." In the 1980s, when President Ronald Reagan imposed restrictions on the number of cars Japan could export to the U.S., Japan suffered. But, over time, it developed its auto industry so that it could export more expensive cars.







Trump thinks that attacking China through trade will help to "Make America Great Again." But it is more likely to make China stronger.









Keyu Jin, a professor of economics at the London School of Economics, is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and a member of the Richemont Group Advisory Board. Copyright belongs to Project Syndicate (

).




By John J. Metzler



UNITED NATIONS  In a week of speeches that swirled from the sublime to the ridiculous or simply just boring, the recent U.N. General Assembly debate reached some notable exceptions.



Among the sonorous drone of 193 addresses, either restating the obvious or repeating by rote the contemporary global mantra of climate change, the Palestinians and endemic poverty, some chiefs of state reached rhetorical pinnacles.



U.S. President Donald Trump's measured but firm address to the Assembly set the stage for speeches by other presidents, prime ministers and potentates.



I've selected three particularly poignant speeches which beyond being oracles of the obvious, also presented delegates with a common sense but often overlooked perspective.



Let's begin with Japan's long-serving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a key player on the global stage and a close friend of the U.S. The storied free market disciple Adam Smith must have been smiling when Abe stated, "The Japanese people have eagerly hoped for their national leaders to serve as flag bearers for free trade  after the war Japan itself was a nation that enjoyed remarkable growth, based in the advantages of trade as the beneficiary of a free and open system."



He added that free trade system "enabled the countries of Asia, one after the other, to achieve takeoff and fostered the middle class in each of these countries." That's so very true.



"Japan has now taken on the mission of imparting to the world the benefits of trade," Abe added.



For many years, "both Japan and the United States have led the free trade system forward internationally." He cited Japan's direct investment in America which "has created in the U.S. employment for 856,000 people nationwide." Most of these jobs are in the automotive sector.



Currently 1.7 million Japanese cars are exported to the U.S.; significantly the number of Japanese cars manufactured within the United States by American workers is 3.7 million.



Abe stressed, "This is a win-win situation at its finest. I intend for Japan and the United States to continue this kind of relationship between us."



India's Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj imparted some wisdom on the continuing terrorist threat: "The demon of terrorism now stalks the world  in our case terrorism is bred not in some faraway land, but across our border to the West."



Referring of course to Pakistan, Swaraj stated, "Our neighbor's expertise is not restricted to spawning grounds for terrorism; it is also an expert in trying to mask malevolence with verbal duplicity." Focusing on the Bin Laden networks and the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America, she added, "Pakistan's commitment to terrorism as an instrument of official policy has not abated one bit."



Clearly from an American viewpoint, one hopes Pakistan's new government will stop supporting militant Taliban factions in neighboring Afghanistan who often in turn target our troops. Still Pakistan's consistent, albeit unofficial, support for the Taliban represents a weak link in U.S. security and stabilization operations in Afghanistan.



Poland's President Andrzej Duda offered a more nuanced view of multilateralism: "Not everyone who claims to be a proponent of multilateralism thinks of it in terms of the equality of states." He warned, "One can say that there is a negative multilateralism, which boils down to the concert of powers, a division into spheres of influence."



"Europe and Poland were often victims of this kind of multilateralism starting from the 18th century, throughout the 19th century, during the time of the Cold War. Multilateralism and the rules-based global order are not just for the chosen ones. The same principles must apply to all and to the same extent."



Viewing what he views as "positive multilateralism," the Polish president underscored "the multilateralism of equal states and free nations, not the multilateralism of usurpation and hierarchy." He was making a thinly veiled reference to the European Union, of which the Warsaw's populist government is a member facing the blunt power from Brussels which has seemingly undermined Polish sovereignty.



He advised, "States which have an advantage in terms of potential and power, should not deprive others of their equal right to independence." The Polish president called for "reform of the European Union as returning to its origins."



He clearly added, "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."



Free trade, the continuing terrorist threat and the core issue of national sovereignty were wisely highlighted in the midst of usually stunning mediocrity.





John J. Metzler (jjmcolumn@earthlik.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."


Kia Motors' factory in Mexico / Courtesy of Kia Motors



By Park Jae-hyuk



Kia Motors will face rising manufacturing costs because of the new trade deal signed among the United States, Mexico and Canada, according to the Korea International Trade Association (KITA).



According to the association's recent report, stricter regulations on vehicles imported to the U.S. will weigh more on foreign carmakers exporting vehicles from Mexico and Canada to the U.S.



The new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) requires 75 percent of auto parts to be built in the three countries, up from the current 62.5 percent. At least 70 percent of steel and aluminum used in the cars should also be made in the North American countries. In addition, at least 40 percent of components of passenger cars and at least 45 percent of components of trucks should be made by workers earning $16 an hour.



Up to 2.6 million passenger cars satisfying the new regulations will be exempt from a 25 percent tariff based on Section 232 of the U.S. Trade Expansion Act.



Section 232 allows U.S. President Donald Trump to impose unlimited tariffs or create other trade barriers at his discretion if he believes they are needed so that "imports will not threaten to impair national security," which is expansively defined in the section. Trump has threatened to impose a 25 percent tariff on all cars exported to the U.S.



The KITA regards the regulations as measures to press Korean, Japanese and German carmakers to expand their productions in the U.S.



For the past few years, global automakers have built manufacturing facilities in Mexico, where they can save costs for producing cars to be exported the U.S. market. Workers at car factories in Mexico are paid $7 an hour on average, while those who work for factories in the U.S. and Canada get $20.



Kia has run a factory with an annual production capacity of 400,000 vehicles in Pesqueria in the northern Mexican state of Nuevo Leon since 2016, taking advantage of lower labor costs in the country and the North American Free Trade Agreement that took effect in 1994. Korea's second-largest carmaker has produced 290,000 cars at the factory and exported 60 percent of them to the U.S.



The company said it will make a strategic decision when more details of the USMCA come out.



The KITA urged the government to make every effort for to ensure Korean vehicles are exempt from car tariffs, because the country is expected to face the rapidest decline in car exports, if the U.S. imposes the hefty tariffs.



According to the KITA, Korea's car exports will likely decrease by 22.7 percent in case of the imposition, while those of Japan, China and Germany will likely drop by 21.5 percent, 21.3 percent and 21 percent, respectively.



In 2017, Korea exported vehicles and auto parts collectively worth $24 billion to the U.S. The amount was 1.6 percent of the country's GDP that year.



"To avoid a decline in exports, the government needs to persuade the U.S. into excluding Korea from countries subject to Section 232," a KITA researcher said. "It should also make efforts to diversify the market, secure competitiveness in technology and enhance the global value chain."


A BMW 320i sedan is on fire on a road near Madeul Station in northeastern Seoul in this Aug. 30 file photo. The gasoline car is not among 106,317 vehicles of 42 diesel-engine models subject to a recall. / Yonhap



By Park Jae-hyuk



The government is considering adding BMW's gasoline-powered vehicles to the list of the company's automobiles subject to recall, according to the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, Friday.



The announcement came amid growing concerns over the recurrence of fires in the cars.



"Our basic policy is to conduct an investigation into fires involving all BMW vehicles including gasoline powered cars that are not subject to recall, not just its diesel-engine vehicles that are subject to recall," said an official of the state agency which has investigated the cause of a series of engine fires in BMW vehicles.



"Depending on the outcome of the investigation, the government may demand BMW recall additional vehicles or take different measures to cope with the matter."



BMW began recalling 106,317 vehicles of 42 diesel-engine models on Aug. 20 to prevent additional incidents. The German carmaker has claimed the engine fires were caused by defects in exhaust-gas recirculation (EGR) modules in the diesel-engine vehicles.



However, several of BMW's gasoline-powered vehicles have also caught fire in recent days.



On Sept. 12, a BMW750Li luxury sedan burned to ashes after being driven on a road in Eumseong County in North Chungcheong Province. A BMW 320i sedan also caught fire on Aug. 30 while being driven on a road near Madeul Station in northeastern Seoul.



On Aug. 29, a BMW 528i sedan parked at a park in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, caught fire.



A high-performance M3 convertible sedan which caught fire on a highway in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, Aug. 13, was also among the vehicles that caught fire.



In response to the incidents involving gasoline cars, BMW said the fires broke out after rainwater seeped into the cars and caused short circuits.



"The incidents were not caused by defects in the cars, and are irrelevant to the ongoing recall of those with EGR modules," a company official said.



The transportation authority said it will urge BMW to increase the number of cars subject to the recall, if it discovers another cause for the engine fires, such as errors in software or in intake manifolds.



"A BMW 520d that caught fire in Seoul on Oct. 1 had changed its EGR module after undergoing safety checks, so we are investigating the cause of the fire after conducting an on-site inspection and securing components related to the fire," the agency official said.



The agency is also reviewing whether BMW violated the nation's Automobile Management Act, as the company has allegedly carried out its recalls belatedly, and has tried to minimize the number of vehicles subject to recall.



The agency said it is examining data in 133 documents that BMW gave to it. It is waiting for data on an additional 33.



"We will do our best in analyzing the data and testing BMW vehicles to find out the cause of the engine fires as soon as possible," the agency official said.


KCC Chariman Chung Mong-jin, left, and Hyundai Department Store Group Chairman Chung Ji-sun



Hyundai Department Store acquires Hanwha L&C



By Park Jae-hyuk



Hyundai Department Store has acquired Hanwha L&C in a bid to make its interior design business a key growth engine, the retailer said Friday.



Analysts say the move, led by Group Chairman Chung Ji-sun, is expected to weigh on his uncle, KCC Chairman Chung Mong-jin, as they will face fierce competition in the construction materials market.



In a press release Friday, Hyundai Department Store said Hyundai Home Shopping, a subsidiary of the retail giant, signed the agreement with Morgan Stanley Private Equity to take a 100 percent stake in the local construction materials maker for 368 billion won ($325.3 million) in a bid to make its interior design business a key growth driver.



Hanwha L&C, which specializes in scagliola, windows, doors and flooring, has been one of three dominant players in the domestic market, with KCC and LG Hausys.



Among them, KCC has exercised stronger influence over the market than the others, as it has supplied a large amount of its products to Hyundai E&C, Hyundai Development Company, Hyundai Motor and Hyundai Heavy Industries, all of which are owned by the KCC chairman's relatives.



Although KCC said it participated in competitive bids to supply those companies, analysts have regarded the owner's relationships with the heads of the builders, carmaker and shipbuilder as KCC's biggest advantage over its rivals.



"KCC has maintained the top spot in the domestic market for paint, construction materials and glass," Korea Ratings analyst Lee Dong-eun said. "It has enjoyed stable business conditions as it has secured long-term customers belonging to the Hyundai family."



However, it may face reductions in supply, following Hyundai Department Store's acquisition of Hanwha L&C.



The Hyundai Department Store chairman is a grandson of the late Hyundai founder Chung Ju-yung, an older brother of KCC founder Chung Sang-yung, the father of the incumbent KCC chairman.



The retail giant's attempt to enhance the competitiveness of Hanwha L&C will be another burden to KCC.



Hanwha L&C, which posted 1.636 trillion won in sales last year, built large manufacturing facilities in Korea and North America, thanks to the Morgan Stanley investment worth 150 billion won.



Hyundai Department Store aims for Hanwha L&C to earn 50 percent of its sales from overseas markets within the next five years. The company plans to make more investments globally and improve its sales networks to achieve the goal.



KCC, however, denied the concerns, saying it will continue fair competition with Hanwha L&C, regardless of the recent M&A deal.


Angola, IN (46703)

Today

Snow this morning will transition to snow showers this afternoon. High 36F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 100%. 1 to 3 inches of snow expected..

Tonight

Cloudy. Snow showers developing late. Low around 30F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 40%.
The US Senate girded Friday for a critical, too- close-to-call vote on moving ahead with the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, as Republicans brushed aside complaints by Democrats that an FBI probe of sexual assault allegations against him was rushed and incomplete.

A final vote could come Saturday on President Donald Trump's embattled nominee, who if approved would seal a conservative majority on the nine-seat court for decades.

It is not a done deal, however. Republicans hold a 51-49 majority in the senate and three of their members are seen as undecided on Kavanaugh.

The confirmation process which has gripped Washington and the nation and aggravated already deep political divisions reaches its climax with just weeks to go before mid-term elections.

Under new rules approved last year, 50 votes are needed for victory in Friday's procedural vote, which is on ending debate on the confirmation and moving to a formal and definitive confirmation vote.

The vote is expected around 10:30 am (1430 GMT). That same threshold of 50 also applies to the final confirmation vote.

Thursday was a day of high drama and emotion in Washington: protesters swamped Capitol Hill and roamed the corridors of the Senate to lobby lawmakers who took turns in a secure basement room reviewing a single copy of the new FBI report on Kavanaugh.

More than 300 people were arrested at the protests, including the comedian Amy Schumer, who is a second cousin of Senate Democrat leader Chuck Schumer, and model Emily Ratajkowski.

Republicans insisted that a nearly week-long investigation, summed up in the FBI dossier, had turned up nothing to corroborate the sexual assault allegations against the 53-year-old Kavanaugh, who now sits on a federal court in Washington.

Democrats assailed the probe as an incomplete vetting constrained by a White House determined to push through the lifetime appointment of Trump's man.

The nominee himself closed out Thursday's fast-moving events by taking the extraordinary step of publishing an op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal to defend himself as impartial.

Kavanaugh stood by his performance during last week's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at which he denied the misconduct allegations, made at the same hearing, of a California university professor.

Christine Blasey Ford said Kavanaugh drunkenly groped her and attempted to rape her when they were teenagers attending a party in suburban Washington in the early 1980s.

Two other women have also accused him of sexual misconduct during his university years.

In his testimony, Kavanaugh complained about "a calculated and orchestrated political hit fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election."

He also said the allegations against him were part of what he called a leftwing conspiracy to keep him off the court. His combative and at times downright angry performance drew criticism that Kavanaugh lacked the unbiased, judicious demeanor needed to sit on the high court.

But his Journal piece, headlined "I am an independent, impartial judge," appeared aimed squarely at Republicans on the fence who have expressed concerns about his temperament and partisan attacks during the hearing.

"I know that my tone was sharp, and I said a few things I should not have said," Kavanaugh wrote, arguing he was "forceful and passionate" in denying the allegations against him.

"I do not decide cases based on personal or policy preferences," he added, saying the country's top court "must never be viewed as a partisan institution."

The self-defense came too late for John Paul Stevens, a retired Supreme Court justice who on Thursday said he once believed Kavanaugh to be a fine judge.

"But I think that his performance during the hearings caused me to change my mind," Stevens said in Florida.

'No hint of misconduct'

A sea of women -- thousands of protesters -- marched on Washington Thursday, bursting into the Hart Senate Office Building to hold loud sit-in demonstrations against the judge. Some held signs calling Kavanaugh a liar and unfit to serve.

Capitol Police said the 300-odd detainees were processed on site and released after being charged with offenses such as obstructing a public space or unlawful demonstration.

"I believe Kavanaugh is part of a Big Old Boys club that is going to protect him no matter what," said Angela Trzepkowski, 55, from Delaware.

The New York Times said more than 2,400 law professors signed a letter opposing the nomination, saying that at the confirmation hearing Kavanaugh "did not display the impartiality and judicial temperament" required for the Supreme Court.

Republicans defended him. "This investigation found no hint of misconduct," Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley said. "There's nothing in it that we didn't already know."

Two of the three Republican lawmakers undecided on the nominee boosted his confirmation chances by signaling they believed the FBI had done a thorough probe.

All eyes are on those key Republicans who could make or break the confirmation -- Jeff Flake of Arizona, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Complicating things for the Republicans, another of their senators, Steve Daines of Montana, announced Thursday night that he has a scheduling conflict: his daughter is getting married Saturday in that western state and he plans to attend.

That could be bad news as Republicans need every vote they can get. The office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said it is trying to figure out what to do.

The top Senate Judiciary Democrat, Dianne Feinstein, said the report appeared insufficient to lay to rest concerns about Kavanaugh.

"It looks to be a product of an incomplete investigation that was limited perhaps by the White House, I don't know," Feinstein told reporters.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Auburn, IN (46706)

Today

Snow this morning will give way to lingering snow showers this afternoon. Temps nearly steady in the mid 30s. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 90%. 1 to 3 inches of snow expected..

Tonight

Occasional snow showers. Low 29F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 40%.
(St. Joseph,MO) During the general election Missourians will have the chance to vote on not one, but three ballot initiatives in support of medical marijuana. Two constitutional amendments and one proposition would allow for the growth, manufacturing, consumption and sale of medicinal marijuana.

Amendment 2, sponsored by the group New Approach Missouri, would impose a four percent sales tax on the purchase of medicinal marijuana to be used for veteran services. The proposed amendment is expected to cost $7 million in annual operations and generate $18million for veterans programs and approximately $6 million for local governments.

Amendment 3, sponsored by the group Find the Cure and Springfield attorney Brad Bradshaw, would impose a 15 percent sales tax on medicinal marijuana, with the revenue being used to create the Biomedical Research and Drug Development Institute. The proposed ammented is expected to cost $186,000 for the first year and an increased annual operating cost of $500,000.Amendment 3 is expected to generate $66million in annual revenue.

Proposition C, sponsored by Missourians for Patient Care,would impose a two percent sales tax on medicinal marijuana with revenues being split between veteran healthcare, early childhood education, drug treatment and public safety. Proposition C would also require local municipalities to support medicinal marijuana, before the products can be sold in the area.

The proposition is expected to have a $2.6million startup cost with an annual operational cost of $10million. Proposition C is expected to bring in approximately $10million in revenues for the state and $152,000 in revenues for local governments.

Local attorney Lance Davis is a supporter of Amendment 2 and said voters should avoid the all of the above choice when casting their votes.

"It's important that people just don't vote for all three of those measures, because they are watering down the actual voice of the people for any one of those and it's important for the people to understand the distinctions,"Davis said.

All proposals would make medicinal marijuana available for patients with Cancer, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), chronic pain or terminal illnesses. Similar to the medical marijuana practices of other states, patients who qualify would be issued a state photo ID to purchase or prescribe medicinal marijuana.

"The medical purposes that would benefit veterans and others in the state, but it also would bring jobs to the state and those are additional benefits that haven't been calculated quite yet,"Davis said.

Shawn Collie, Captain of the Buchanan County Drug Strike Force, said he is concerned about how the marijuana will be regulated and how it will impact law enforcement.

"There are so many things you have to start changing and looking at. The training on the law enforcement side, on the government side is regulating that, Collie said. From the regulation of it to the enforcement side of it, it will be a learning curve for everybody."

Collie is concerned that legalization could increase the illegal traffic of marijuana and marijuana products in the community.

"We start seeing the black market side of it or the street level side of it where individuals are growing the marijuana and selling it to a dispensary, but the money maker side of it may be selling to people illegally outside of that area," Collie said. What we see is people who go out and buy 10 pounds and bring it back and theyre selling the 10 pounds. The price for marijuana has gone up drastically over the last several years. Marijuana used to be $800 a pound, now it can be $4,000 or $5,000 a pound depending on the quality and the level of THC.

Local law enforcement agencies use Drug Recognition Experts (DRE), officers trained to detect what type of substance a person might be under, in the field and Collie said the passing of new marijuana legislation could put a strain on law enforcement.

Not every officer or deputy or trooper is trained in that. So know you are going to have to create training for everybody which is going to be an increase in demand on law enforcement, Collie said.

Ultimately, it will be left for voters to decide how Missouri moves forward with marijuana laws during the general election on Tuesday, November 6.

"All of this doesn't matter if we don't get out to vote on November 6. It is a matter of individual choice and individual liberty which should effect every one of us," Davis said.

If all three initiatives pass, the initiative with the largest margin of voters will go into effect. If approved by voters, Davis estimates medicinal marijuana dispensaries could be active in Missouri within a year.
Freely accessible local news is vital. Please power our reporters and help keep us independent with a donation today.

Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe

Housing in Los Angeles is only getting more expensive, but many of the region's fastest-growing jobs pay less than $30,000 a year. That has the local business community worried. Will L.A.'s economy be sustainable if its workers increasingly can't afford the rent?

A new report from the Los Angeles Business Council, led by USC public policy professor Gary Painter, finds that the high cost of housing is a big concern among L.A. employers. But with a few notable exceptions, most aren't doing anything to address housing costs for their workers.

"For many, it is incredibly new to even think about housing as part of a compensation package," said Painter. "It really is going to take a new way of thinking about this -- people need housing just like they need health care."

The report surveyed 18 employers in L.A.'s three fastest-growing sectors: health care and social services, accommodation and food, and professional, science and tech work.

The authors found some employers stepping up to offer housing assistance as part of their hiring and benefits packages. But that help was mostly missing for workers in L.A.'s booming low-wage fields.

"We have a systemic problem, due to the success of our economic growth, that requires more thinking around providing adequate housing for people at the income levels they are receiving," said Mary Leslie, president of the Los Angeles Business Council.

"Companies have to rethink their wage, and increase it. Or we have to rethink the kind of companies we're attracting to L.A.," she said.

WHAT KINDS OF JOBS ARE GROWING IN LA? WHAT DO THEY PAY?

First the good news. Local companies are hiring for tech, science and professional positions like web developers and statisticians. And those knowledge economy jobs are fairly well-paid. Most pay $50,000 a year or more, and about a quarter come with a six-figure salary.

But the bad news is the rest of L.A.'s fastest job growth tends to be concentrated in lower-paying sectors. Here's a few of them:

Home health workers

Like the rest of the country, L.A. has a large aging population. Many families are hiring health aides to care for their elderly or disabled parents in their houses rather than sending them to a nursing home. But in-home health work isn't well paid. The median annual wage is only $22,600.

Tourism

Tourists continue to flock to Los Angeles, and they're creating many new jobs in hotels, restaurants and other attractions. But 69 percent of tourist workers are making less than $25,000 a year.

Food prep

L.A.'s growing population means more mouths to feed. And that means more jobs for restaurant cooks and food prep workers. But those jobs often pay minimum wage, or close to it.

THE RENT REALITY

Close to a third of LA renters are putting more than half their income toward rent, which can force them into cutting back on other necessities like food and medical care.

Many workers are living in cheaper areas outside L.A. and commuting longer distances. Or they're doubling and tripling up with other roommates. Some are actually homeless.

ANXIETY BUT LITTLE ACTION

The report makes one thing clear: L.A. employers are worried about housing costs.

Most L.A. employers said they're worried about housing costs. (Los Angeles Business Council)

More than 80 percent of surveyed employers said housing is making it hard to retain workers. More than a quarter said they've failed to attract employees to L.A. because of expensive housing.

But 61 percent said they have no programs to help workers ease financial burdens around housing.

Nearly a third said they don't even incorporate L.A.'s cost of living into their hiring packages.

Most L.A. employers aren't doing anything to help defray housing costs for their workers. (Los Angeles Business Council)

EMPLOYERS THAT HELP

The report cites Snapchat and Spotify as two tech companies that have provided housing and relocation assistance for their L.A. workers.

USC offers certain employees up to $50,000 in mortgage assistance when they buy a home close to campus.

And while most low-income workers are not getting help with housing, some LAUSD custodians and cafeteria workers are now living in affordable housing units built by the school district.

THE DISAPPOINTING TAKEAWAY

The report notes that other employers can help by simply getting more involved in advocating for new housing development near their offices. But USC professor Gary Painter said he was a bit surprised to find that employers weren't doing more.

"One of the disappointing things in the survey is how little people were thinking and planning forward, despite the fact that everyone agrees it's a critical issue," he said.

Hey, thanks. You read the entire story. And we love you for that. Here at LAist, our goal is to cover the stories that matter to you, not advertisers. We don't have paywalls, but we do have payments (aka bills). So if you love independent, local journalism, join us. Let's make the world a better place, together. Donate now.
Freely accessible local news is vital. Please power our reporters and help keep us independent with a donation today.

Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe

Paul Feig -- known for projects like Bridesmaids, the female Ghostbusters reboot, other examples of championing women, and his sharp sense of style -- is launching an incubator for female directors, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

It's called Powderkeg: Fuse, and it's part of his digital media company Powderkeg, which he started with exec Laura Fischer.

The seven women selected for the program start production on short films this week in Los Angeles, with films about the city.

Forty women were invited to submit concepts that would showcase Los Angeles's diversity, and it was narrowed down to these seven -- five solo directors and one team.

The six short films are all set to serve as proofs of concept for an original series, which Powderkeg would produce.

Here are the directors, their films, and where they're set, according to the Reporter:

Hannah Levy's and Adriana Robles's Francis 2.0 , set in West Hollywood

, set in West Hollywood Jess de la Merced's Phony , set in the San Gabriel Valley

, set in the San Gabriel Valley Thembi Banks's Baldwin Beauty , set in Baldwin Hills

, set in Baldwin Hills Talia Osteen's Shabbos Goy , set in Pico Robertson

, set in Pico Robertson Lizzy Sanford's Freckle and the Shih Tzu (setting to be announced)

(setting to be announced) Jeanne Jo's Rachel From New York, set in Frogtown

"Each of these women has a very unique comedic voice and aesthetic and we are thrilled to be able to bring their short films to life," Feig and Fischer said, according to the Reporter. "These are talented directors ready for the next step in their careers and we hope this is the beginning of a long working relationship with each of the them."

The directors are being mentored by Feig to prep their films, and they're being teamed with top producers and casting directors. They'll be distributed as a 30-minute anthology, tied together by their theme.

Powderkeg's mission is to elevate female and LGBTQ creators -- the digital company launched earlier this year. They've already been busy, with projects including greenlighting the Muslim-American digital series East of La Brea earlier this year.

You made it! Congrats, you read the entire story, you gorgeous human. This story was made possible by generous people like you. Independent, local journalism costs $$$$$. And now that LAist is part of KPCC, we rely on that support. So if you aren't already, be one of us! Help us help you live your best life in Southern California. Donate now.
Freely accessible local news is vital. Please power our reporters and help keep us independent with a donation today.

Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe

The family of Melyda Corado, the Trader Joe's manager fatally shot by an LAPD officer during a shootout with a fleeing suspect, filed damage claims Thursday against the department.

The complaint, filed on behalf of Corado's father and brother, accuses the Los Angeles Police Department of civil rights violations, excessive force, negligence, failure to properly train officers and conspiracy to cover-up misconduct.

The 27-year-old was killed in July, after police chased a shooting suspect, Gene Atkins, from Hollywood to Silver Lake, where he crashed his car into a pole outside the grocery store.

Three days after the shooting, the department released an edited video showing footage from the patrol car's dashboard camera, as well as the body-worn cameras of the two officers involved in the shooting.

The video shows officers exchanging gunfire with the suspect as he fled into the store. One round fired by officers hit Atkins in the arm. Another struck and killed Corado, who had walked to the front of the store after hearing the crash.

This still image captured from LAPD officer body camera footage shows an officer returning fire after an attempted murder and kidnapping suspect fired at him and his partner at the end of a pursuit in Silver Lake. (Image courtesy LAPD)

After a tense, three-hour standoff, with the armed suspect keeping customers and staff inside the store, Atkins peacefully surrendered to police. He faces dozens of felonies, including a murder charge for Corado's death.

In a press conference three days after the shooting, LAPD Chief Michel Moore called Corado's death a "tragic loss" and said the officers were faced with the "worst decision" they'd ever have to make under the most difficult circumstances.

"These are no-win situations," Moore said. "This is a heartbreaking reminder of the split-second decisions that officers must make every day."

Crowds gathered Sunday to pay their respects at the Trader Joe's in Silver Lake, where Melyda Corado was killed during a police shootout. (Brian Frank/LAist)

In early September, attorneys for Corado's family told LAist/KPCC that the department had initially offered to let them review the latest video ahead of its public release, but then reversed their decision.

"All of the videos should be released as opposed to video that's selected by the department, that's narrated by the department, that's edited by the department," family attorney John Taylor said at the time. Attorneys also questioned why toxicology reports were ordered for Corado.

You can watch the video released in September below. Warning: the video includes some graphic content and language that may be offensive to some.

READ THE CLAIMS

KPCC/LAist reporter Mary Plummer contributed to this report.

Hey, thanks. You read the entire story. And we love you for that. Here at LAist, our goal is to cover the stories that matter to you, not advertisers. We don't have paywalls, but we do have payments (aka bills). So if you love independent, local journalism, join us. Let's make the world a better place, together. Donate now.
Freely accessible local news is vital. Please power our reporters and help keep us independent with a donation today.

Start your day with LAist Sign up for the Morning Brief, delivered weekdays. Subscribe

Dozens of downtown L.A. residents, business owners, and boosters packed a city council committee meeting this week to urge city leaders not to back down in a fight with homeless residents over their property rights.

Voice after voice urged city officials to go to trial, rather than settle a federal lawsuit filed by homeless residents who said their constitutional rights were violated when their property was seized and destroyed.

The suit, Mitchell V. Los Angeles, was filed two years ago by several homeless people who claim actions by L.A.'s sanitation and police departments violated their Fourth and Fourteenth amendment constitutional rights.

WHAT THE LAWSUIT ALLEGED

The suit documents the experiences of four homeless people living on Skid Row.

One of the plaintiffs, Carl Mitchell, claims the city confiscated and destroyed his possessions, following his arrest for allegedly stealing a shopping cart. He says he was released from police custody 18 hours later on a 40 degree winter night without his blankets, medication, and identifying documents. According to court documents, Mitchell slept that night on the sidewalk beneath a single blanket he found on the street, with no way to keep warm.

Another, Judy Coleman, alleges that she developed pneumonia after the city impounded her blankets, medication, and walker.

QUICK ACTION BY A JUDGE

A month after the case was filed, a federal judge issued a restraining order against Los Angeles that effectively barred the city from conducting homeless encampment cleanups on Skid Row.

Judge James Otero wrote in his April 2016 order: "To put it bluntly, Plaintiffs may not survive without some of the essential property that has been confiscated."

The terms of the restraining order do empower the city to conduct cleanups in some situations, like if property presents an immediate risk to public health and safety. But the city is required to store confiscated property in a facility on Skid Row, and make it available within 24-hours of seizure.

THE AFTERMATH

Conditions on Skid Row have visibly deteriorated since the city was barred from conducting cleanups there. Tent cities now cover most Skid Row sidewalks and spill out into other portions of downtown L.A.

The conditions are objectively hazardous, a reality that appeared to drive people to turn out at Wednesday's meeting. Their fear? The status quo becomes permanent.

That could happen if the city decides to settle the lawsuit and avoid litigation. But it could also happen even if the city decides to fight the suit. And it's not just downtown business interests or homeowners who want a better solution.

Georgia Berkovich is the director of public affairs for the Skid Row-based Midnight Mission. Her organization opposes a settlement.

"We believe that everyone in L.A. deserves to walk through their neighborhood without the threat of violence, assault or drug dealing," Berkovich said. "Every day we have almost 300 people who wake up in a safe place only to walk out into a neighborhood that is very dangerous."

The Mitchell case is set to go to trial next year, unless the city opts to settle.

A ONE-SIDED SHOWING

Almost all of the speakers Wednesday explicitly urged the city: "Do not settle."

Ryan Aubry, with the downtown developer Greenland USA, says his company "has serious concerns about what is being proposed in the Mitchell settlement, specifically the effective elimination of a limit on personal goods." (A spokesperson for the City Attorney's office said that he was unaware if a settlement had been drafted, and that he was not in a position to comment on pending legal action.)

General Dogon, a well-known activist and organizer on Skid Row, was the only commenter who spoke in favor of a settlement. Dogon is an organizer with the Los Angeles Community Action Network, one of the plaintiffs in the case. He said he believes L.A. would lose the lawsuit if the city takes it to court.

"The federal courts have been consistent with upholding property rights," Dogon said.

Dogon's organization would presumably benefit from a legal settlement reached in the Mitchell case. But beyond that, he argues seizing property unfairly punishes the homeless.

"You have totally criminalized the situation, and it has gotten out of control," he said.

Dogon and others argue that when homeless people lose their possessions and end up in jail it actually makes it harder for them to get off the street. For example, plaintiff Carl Mitchell lost documents crucial for accessing government services like Social Security, and needed dedicate the time necessary to procure new ones.

THE BACKSTORY

Los Angeles has been sued several other times over policies that litigants alleged tread on the rights of homeless residents. Some suits ended with a judge's ruling, others were settled by the city.

The result has been a disparate patchwork of rules and injunctions that create different standards of police and sanitation conduct based on where you live.

For example, while encampment sweeps are largely prohibited on Skid Row, L.A. has established a "special enforcement & cleaning zone" a few blocks away near its El Pueblo Bridge Shelter with cleanups five times weekly.

That's partially why so many people are pushing the city to take the Mitchell case to trial. They hope a trial would establish a single citywide standard for encampment cleanups. The goal for advocates of this approach is a standard that allows cleanups to resume in Skid Row.

In a brief statement after the public comment session, L.A. City Councilmember Jose Huizar affirmed his desire to take the case to trial.

"If we are told that the chances of winning don't look good as we appeal and move forward, I'm willing to take that chance, and take that risk," he said.

But there's a risk for those who want widespread cleanups.

It's totally possible the court could side with the Mitchell plaintiffs. That could lead to more far-reaching limits on the city's encampment sanitation policies, and other public conduct laws homeless people are cited under.

As a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling against the City of Boise said earlier this year, "as long as there is no option of sleeping indoors, the government cannot criminalize indigent, homeless people for sleeping outdoors, on public property, on the false premise they had a choice in the matter."

READ MORE:

There's A Flea-Borne Typhus Outbreak In Downtown LA

What You Need To Know About Proposition 10: The Affordable Housing Act

Hey, thanks. You read the entire story. And we love you for that. Here at LAist, our goal is to cover the stories that matter to you, not advertisers. We don't have paywalls, but we do have payments (aka bills). So if you love independent, local journalism, join us. Let's make the world a better place, together. Donate now.
Having dealt with issues related to internal displacement and refugee returnees, Sri Lanka recognizes the challenges associated with return and reintegration, stated Deputy Permanent Representative of Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka in Geneva, Ms. Samantha Jayasuriya, participating at the just concluded General Debate of the 69th Session of the Executive Committee (Ex-Com) of the UNHCR in Geneva.

She noted that the Global Compact for Refugees (GCR), agreed recently following consultations in Geneva, was aimed at addressing large scale movements of refugees, but given that most movements were 'mixed flows', who were using the same routes and encounter similar needs and challenges, it was important that it must be responded to effectively at the ground level.

Sri Lanka delegate commended the agreement on GCR as a triumph for multilateralism while thanking the UNHCR and the country teams of UN agencies working in Sri Lanka for complementing the efforts of the Government. Sri Lanka reiterated its commitment to continuing its constructive engagement with the UNHCR.

The High Commissioner for Refugees Mr. Filippo Grandi conveyed his appreciation to Sri Lanka for drawing attention of the Ex-Com to the needs and challenges of mixed migration flows, which he said was an important aspect that required collective responses at all levels.

The Executive Committee of the UNHCR is a Forum for Annual Dialogue among States Parties to the 1951 Refugees Convention and its 1967 Protocol. Its primary objective is to assess and share experiences on addressing issues related to refugees, IDPs, Statelessness and the work and finances of the UNHCR.

Full Statement by Sri Lanka

Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to UNO

Geneva

2 October 2018
The past is, depending upon whom you ask, either "prologue," "a foreign country" or "never dead. It's not even past." (In this case, William Shakespeare, L.P. Hartley and William Faulkner, respectively).

All memoirs are, by definition, collections of the past, but few interrogate it quite like Kathryn Harrison's "On Sunset." What sets Harrison apart is that the past was her native land, even as she was living it. Raised by a pair of deeply eccentric old-world grandparents in a sprawling house on Sunset Boulevard, Harrison existed in a childhood out of time and place, seemingly unbound from her era.

Although the book is largely set in 1960s Los Angeles, spanning the years from Harrison's birth in 1961 to the 1971 sale of the house, there is little sense of the outward time period. Instead, Harrison and her caregivers are given over to a kind of folie a trois of condensed, collective memory. Her grandparents bygone worlds permeate, pervade and play concurrently with hers, like two movies projected on a wall at once.

Harrison is taught to curtsy and is administered cod liver oil "and other torments generally imagined to be reserved for children left behind in a previous century." Carbonated beverages, chewing gum and nail polish are verboten. She fails invisible tests at school with her cultural ignorance; she doesn't know who the Doors or the Monkees are, but she can sing the popular songs that her great-aunts Belle and Violet once crooned in London music halls.

Harrison was raised by her grandparents, shown in 1941. Kathryn Harrison

Harrison, who has written numerous novels, is perhaps best known for her memoir "The Kiss," which detailed a multi-year incestuous relationship with her father that began when she was 20. The book caused quite a stir when it debuted in 1997. "To call it controversial would be a laughable understatement; it has been the object of almost apoplectic fury," this paper wrote at the time of its release. Though knowledge of these eventual events is difficult to entirely push out of any narrative of Harrison's life, she makes no mention of them in "On Sunset." The father in question is mentioned only a handful of times here, and never in any detail.

Her teen mother is also largely absent, though her presence looms as she abruptly careens in and out of the picture. It's Harrison's maternal grandparents, both of whom had already clawed their way through several theatrical acts before meeting each other in Los Angeles in the 1940s, who occupy the heart of the story. Harry Jacobs, her grandfather, left London for British Columbia and then Alaska, moving west in various makeshift, adventuresome jobs. Reared in the walled luxury of Shanghais International Settlement and later the South of France, Harrison's grandmother Margaret Sassoon transplanted her life from Europe  touring the Alps, stopping at Lake Como, taking a jaunt to the Jungfrau  to a new continent, a state that fulfilled its golden promise.

The Sassoons were a family of tremendous wealth, albeit of the bygone, once-upon-a-time variety. Described as "the Rothschilds of the East," the sprawling clan of Baghdadi Jews had, at one point in the 1880s, an estimated "70 percent control of the world's opium trade." The jig, however, was almost entirely up by the time baby Harrison came into the picture. The family was rapidly teetering into what Harrison describes as a schizophrenic financial collapse. Sassoon, who once spurned princes as suitors, now collects books of Blue Chip trading stamps to stave off bankruptcy. Treasured heirlooms continually disappear from the walls, even as the family sleeps on hand-finished and monogrammed bedclothes made to order from Grande Maison de Blanc and as Harrison wears satin-smocked Sunday school dresses from a store on Rodeo Drive.

The book largely unfolds in short vignettes, rarely longer than a few pages at a time. Personal narrative commingles with family history. We hopscotch from the house on the periphery of Bel-Air to an array of exotic locales: the mythic realm occupied by Sassoons of generations past; cloistered Shanghai and the glamour of Cap-Martin overlooking the Mediterranean Sea; the soot and fog of turn-of-the-prior-century London, where her grandfather's mother ran a boardinghouse; and the raw wildness of work on the Alaskan railroad. There are occasional interwoven snippets from archives and diary entries, but most of the past is unspooled through Harrison's hunger for memory, pulled loose as she prompts her grandparents to re-tell stories from her favorite bits.

Writer Kathryn Harrison Joyce Ravid

Those expecting a reverie of bygone Los Angeles will likely be disappointed. Sure, there are avocado trees, visits to the La Brea Tar Pits and other salient references, but despite its title, the book never feels particularly rooted in the city itself, let alone Sunset Boulevard. Shanghai and Alaska are portrayed far more vividly than Southern California.

The family history is undeniably rich, and there are moments of great vibrance, but the passages sometimes slip into tedium, like being asked to flip through someone else's heirloom photo album for the second or third time. The incantation of names and places grows old, and the reader can feel a bit like a ping-pong ball, pulled through time and space without any particular sense of overarching narrative motion.

But Harrison is nothing if not a magnificent writer, and there is something deeply satisfying about her sentences. A kind of internal rhythm dictates, with utmost precision and nary a stray adjective. She has a knack for layering stacks of images, details and exact snapshots into place, separated by commas like beads strung into a kind of rhapsody. Each sequence is beautifully rendered, even if it doesn't always feel like an insistent piece of a larger whole.

Julia Wick is the former editor-in-chief of LAist.com. She writes about cities, culture and all things Los Angeles.

::

Kathryn Harrison
Which of the abundant and baseless stereotypes about Los Angeles gets under your skin the most?

Is it the assertion that L.A. is a concrete wasteland, when in fact the city is a certified biodiversity hotspot teeming with wildlife and bordered by mountains and the sea?

How about the myth that we have no seasons, despite the cool weather and overcast skies that arrive like clockwork each June, the dry, crippling heat that plagues us dependably each fall and the jacaranda explosion that happens each spring?

Perhaps your defenses go up when friends from elsewhere ask, But how do you deal with the traffic? when their own commutes in New York, DC, or the Bay Area consume several hours each week.

Advertisement

My biggest pet peeve is the cliche, still occasionally espoused by my East Coast family, that the city is fake or plastic.

These myths and more are highlighted  and debunked  in the new book This is (Not) L.A.: An Insiders Take on Los Angeles.

The book, which came out in the beginning of September, was conceived by longtime Angeleno Jen Bilik, the founder of Knock Knock, an independent publisher of amusing books and maker of clever gifts.

Shes also a reformed L.A.-stereotyper.

Being from the Bay Area and then living in New York, I absorbed a double dose of the idea that L.A. sucks, she said.

Her tune changed in the late 90s when she collaborated on a book about Hollywood history with the Chateau Marmont  a SoCal gateway drug if ever there was one, she writes in the epilogue of This is (Not) L.A.

She made the move to Los Angeles in 1998, landing in a sprawling 1950s apartment complex just under the Hollywood sign. She has been championing the city ever since.

From This is (Not) L.A. (Knock Knock)

Bilik and her co-author, former LA Weekly music editor Kate Sullivan, structured This is (Not) L.A. around 18 often repeated myths about Los Angeles, including Everyone works in the biz and L.A. has no history.

Admittedly, some of the stereotypes feel dated. For example, L.A. has crappy food. That may have been a common misconception decades ago, but has anyone, even a condescending New Yorker or defensive San Franciscan, actually thought that way recently in this era of Sqirl and Chengdu Taste?

And yet other stereotypes mentioned in the book are frequently repeated, even by long-time residents. For instance: L.A. is a desert. Not true! The proper term for our temperate climate is Mediterranean, the authors write.

I was surprised to see L.A. traffic is horrible included as one of the cliches about the city. As someone who now makes the psychologically harrowing commute between Mount Washington and El Segundo several times a week, I can say with authority that for some of us, L.A.s traffic is indeed truly horrible  especially going east at rush hour.

However, Bilik and Sullivan cite studies that claim the average length of an L.A. commute is just 32.2 minutes. Thats shorter than the average commute of people living in Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and New York. In addition, they claim that the percentage of Angelenos with mega-commutes of 90 minutes or more each way is lower than in New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

What we were trying to get at is the question, Is it just us or is it everywhere? And if its everywhere, why do we get such a bad rap for it? Bilik said.

Media savvy readers will appreciate the two page spread dedicated to the New York Times consistently cliched coverage of the city which inevitably includes references to yoga pants, urban sprawl, celebrities and juice.

Its so infuriating because we have no shortage of people who know L.A., but instead they send in these seagulls who squawk, [poop] and go, Bilik said.

From This is (Not) L.A. (Knock Knock)

To celebrate the launch of the book, Bilik recently gathered four LA writers for a public discussion at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. The subject was L.A.  the good, the bad and the unexpected.

The evening began with Good Food host Evan Kleiman reading from an introduction to the book by the citys greatest interpreter and advocate, the late Jonathan Gold.

San Francisco likes to think of Los Angeles as the place where civilization went to die, Kleiman read. We think of San Francisco as a pleasant place to spend a weekend.

The audience of roughly 200 people laughed loudly.

Next, Bilik lobbed questions at the panelists like In the last month what most surprised you about Los Angeles? and What are the most misunderstood things about LA?

Magazine writer Ed Leibowitz said the thing that surprised him most was when he discovered the place where he used to get a $25 pizza pie is now charging $10 a slice.

I do think LA is just one big earthquake from being affordable again, he said.

Panelist Patty Rodriguez, who is a senior producer at On Air With Ryan Seacrest and co-founder of the Lil Libros bilingual childrens book publishing company said one of the greatest misconceptions she hears is that all Latinos in the city are Mexicans. Were not, she said.

But the best question came toward the end of the event, when an audience member asked the five L.A. aficionados on stage  Bilik included  to share their favorite L.A. secret, or hack.

Essayist Lynell Georges response was the most universal. Her tip is that if you want to explore the city, try getting up early Sunday morning when the streets and freeways are empty and you can glide through neighborhoods unimpeded by traffic.

It has to be before 12, she said. But if you do that, you will be amazed by what you can see.

Biliks new book busted some of LAs most entrenched and annoying stereotypes; maybe her next one will reveal more of our enigmatic citys hidden secrets.
When CBS announced last month that longtime Chief Executive Leslie Moonves had stepped down amid a sexual harassment scandal, the company took the additional step of pledging $20 million to groups that advocate for workplace equality and the #MeToo cause.

CBS imposed a 30-day deadline to allocate the $20 million to one or more organizations. With that deadline looming, CBS indicated Friday that it needed more time. It said it has hired a communications firm, Rally, to help sort through various organizations that would like some of the money. It also set a new deadline to select the grant fund recipients: Dec. 14.

Rallys expertise will help make sure we are being as effective and impactful with these funds as we can be, Joe Ianniello, CBS president and acting CEO, said in a statement. He also teased a much larger undertaking by the company, to be announced later.

The Sept. 9 separation agreement with Moonves stipulated that the $20 million would come out of his severance package. Moonves can ratify which organizations receive donations. Separately, the company agreed to transfer $120 million to a trust fund that could be used for his severance, pending the outcome of an investigation.

Advertisement

It is not clear whether Moonves will receive any severance money.

Leslie Moonves, pictured here in 2010, stepped down as CBS chief executive Sept. 9. (Robyn Beck / AFP/Getty Images)

At least 12 women have accused Moonves of sexual misconduct, including kissing them forcibly. A former Lorimar Productions television executive, Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb, said that Moonves assaulted her in the mid-1980s and she reported the incident to police in November at the height of the #MeToo movement. Moonves and several CBS board members became aware of her allegation this year.

Investigators also are looking into how Moonves and CBS board members dealt with the harassment claims when information about Golden-Gottliebs allegations reached the broadcasting company.

Articles published by the New Yorker magazine in July and September brought the allegations of misconduct to light. Most of the alleged incidents were said to have occurred decades ago, before Moonves was a ranking executive at the legendary broadcasting company.

Moonves denies assaulting anyone and has said that he never used his position of power to harm any of the womens careers.

In early August, the CBS board of directors hired two high-profile lawyers in New York  Mary Jo White from law firm Debevoise & Plimpton and Nancy Kestenbaum of Covington & Burling  to investigate the claims. The two firms also are scrutinizing CBS workplace culture and allegations of boorish behavior within CBS News, including the actions of a former 60 Minutes executive producer.

Late last week, CBS disclosed in a regulatory filing that it had received subpoenas as part of a New York district attorneys office investigation into the allegations that Moonves had acted inappropriately. The New York City Commission on Human Rights and the New York attorney general have also requested information from CBS.

This is a critical time in our country and in all industries and we are glad to see that preventing sexual assault and increasing equity in the workplace are becoming national priorities, said one of Rallys leaders, Lara Bergthold. This is a difficult and important conversation, not just in the industry but in the country, and we are pleased to be supporting CBS in taking this critical step.

Rally describes itself as an issue-driven communications firm. It has worked with such organizations as Times Up, the ACLU, Facebook and the California Endowment.

Groups that work to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace can receive more information about how to apply for some of the funds by emailing cbsfund@wearerally.com.

meg.james@latimes.com

Twitter: @MegJamesLAT

UPDATES:

9:20 a.m.: This article was updated with background information about CBS hiring lawyers and receiving subpoenas.

This article was originally published at 9 a.m.
This summer, a Coolhaus ice cream truck rolled up to the edge of Northrop Grumman Corp.s Redondo Beach Space Park campus. It offered free frosty treats  from Raytheon Co. recruiters.

Thats just one hiring strategy employed by aerospace and defense companies these days. Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing Co. have Facebook or Twitter accounts tailored specifically for recruiting. A Northrop Grumman billboard towers over a major El Segundo thoroughfare, promoting careers at the company.

The increased U.S. defense budget, record orders for commercial aircraft and the launch of new, cutting-edge programs have aerospace and defense companies scrambling to hire engineers and other skilled workers. Theyre especially interested in those with experience in software, artificial intelligence and autonomy  pitting them against tech companies for the same pool of workers.

Historically, aerospace and defense firms havent had the Googles and Amazons and Yahoos to recruit against, said Harold Carter, director of engineering and technology at Lockheed Martin Skunk Works in Palmdale. Quite frequently now, especially in software-related disciplines  were certainly seeing its much more competitive.

Advertisement

Next year, the aerospace and defense industry will probably hire 58,000 to 60,000 people across the country in a mix of new jobs and to account for attrition and retirements, said Carole Rickard Hedden, editorial director of Aviation Week Executive Intelligence, which produces a yearly report on the industry workforce. About one-third of those hires will be on the West Coast.

Thats up from about 50,000 hires industrywide last year, said Frank Slazer, vice president for space systems and workforce at the Aerospace Industries Assn. trade group.

Many companies are looking to staff up after recent program wins, including the stealthy B-21 bomber, NASAs low-boom supersonic X-plane and hypersonic missile research.

Roy Azevedo, Raytheons president of space and airborne systems, expects the hiring boom to continue for years.

It rivals what we saw in the 1980s, he said. The openings are roughly doubled from just about a year ago.

As of last month, Raytheon had about 1,000 job openings in California, including 600 in the South Bay. Lockheed Martins careers page listed about 880 open positions last month in California, a significant increase from anything in the past, Carter said.

Southern Californias aerospace industry is notorious for its cyclical hiring. During the heyday of the 1960s space race, North American Aviation in Downey, which later became part of Boeing, staffed up to 25,000 to build the Apollo command module. In the 1980s, aerospace companies bulked up again as the U.S. bolstered its defenses amid increasing tension with the Soviet Union. By 1990, private aerospace industry employment totaled 273,000.

But as Pentagon spending slumped, the industry cut back. In 2016, the workforce was down to 90,100, according to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

Although it doesnt compare to the industrywide hiring numbers seen in the late 80s and early 90s, we are in an uptick, said Jim Adams, principal of the aerospace and defense practice at KPMG.

This most recent spike is partially driven by the Trump administrations increased national defense budget, which totals $716 billion for fiscal year 2019-20. Thats a 2.2% increase from the fiscal year 2018-19 budget, and comes off a 10.5% increase between fiscal year 2017-18 and 2018-19, said Todd Harrison, director of defense budget analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Lockheed Martins $247.5 million contract to build NASAs X-plane has boosted hiring at the companys secretive Skunk Works facility, along with accelerated technology development and other programs Carter declined to name.

A Northrop Grumman official has said the company plans to add more than 2,000 jobs by late next year at its top-secret aircraft plant in Palmdale, where the company plans to complete final assembly of the U.S. Air Forces B-21. The Pentagon plans to buy 100 of the bombers by the mid-2030s for at least $80 billion.

To attract young talent, aerospace firms are constant presences on college campuses. Last fall, Mia Reyes, 20, met Northrop Grumman recruiters through a resume workshop at a UCLA Society of Women Engineers event and took a tour of one of the companys local facilities through her involvement with the Society of Latino Engineers and Scientists.

Those meetings led to an internship this past summer at Northrop Grumman, where the third-year aerospace engineering student worked on stress analysis of aircraft structures. Shell be interning there again next summer.

Reyes has always been intrigued by aerospace engineering; her grandfather was an aerospace engineer at Rocketdyne and worked on aspects of the Apollo missions. But she hadnt heard of Northrop Grumman until she arrived at UCLA and saw company representatives on campus.

A major draw was Northrop Grummans work on the James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to the Hubble Space Telescope that is set for launch in 2021.

That telescope is the coolest thing in the world to me, Reyes said. The science behind it  makes sense, but it sounds like sci-fi.

Aerospace and defense firms face an increasingly competitive market for talent, as tech companies also look for engineers with skills in software and artificial intelligence, said Adams of KPMG.

Entry-level electrical engineers earn $75,000 to $80,000. With 12 to 15 years of experience, that salary could increase to $146,000 to $150,000, according to Aviation Week data. Entry-level software engineers in aerospace and defense make about $76,000, according to Aviation Week; the national average for those workers is about $95,000, according to Glassdoor.

A Boeing C-17 Globemaster III flies past the Northrop Grumman aircraft plant in Palmdale. The company plans to increase employment by more than 2,000 jobs by late next year in Palmdale, where it will complete final assembly of the U.S. Air Forces B-21 bomber. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Companies are also looking for experience in cybersecurity, electric and rocket power systems, as well as data analytics. Ten years ago, highly coveted job skills included systems engineering and electrical engineering, according to a recent aerospace workforce report from Aviation Week.

Even when aerospace companies can compete for tech talent, they have the disadvantage of meeting requirements for classified programs. There is a significant backlog in conducting background investigations for government security clearances, according to a January report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. As of September 2017, more than 700,000 investigations were still in the pipeline, though the backlog has declined since the last reporting, according to a GAO official.

The share of the aerospace workforce with above a secret clearance has increased to 12.3% in 2017 from 8.1% the previous year, according to the Aviation Week report. Many of the companies surveyed said it takes about five months to get top-secret clearances and more than a year to obtain higher clearance levels.

To cope, some companies try to clear employees before theyre hired or poach security-cleared talent from other firms.

You have to account for that in your workforce management process, which basically means you need a longer lead time, said Carter of Lockheed Martin. It certainly takes longer now than it used to.

Adding to the recruitment pressure is the large number of baby boomers in the industrys workforce. Many of those who joined the industry toward the end of the space race are nearing retirement age. Retirement rates remain low for now  only 2.2% of the workforce retired last year. But in its survey of 559,000 aerospace workers at 35 U.S. companies, Aviation Week said the average age was 47, with about 30.5% over age of 50.

Companies are preparing for the inevitable turnover by making plans to transfer knowledge from older employees to newer hires.

Greg Caguimbal, 24, said hes sought mentorship from older experts in electronics, materials engineering and other areas at Lockheed Martin, where he works part time as a mechanical design and systems engineer. Hes a graduate student at UCLA and plans to graduate next year with a masters degree in mechanical engineering.

I try to talk to these people as much as I can, he said. See whats been working and how it works and kind of just continue the legacy.

samantha.masunaga@latimes.com

Twitter: @smasunaga
Wells Fargo & Co. is doubling down on the gun industry, undaunted by criticism of its deep ties to firearm companies and the National Rifle Assn.

The San Francisco bank issued a $40-million line of credit last week to gun manufacturer Sturm, Ruger & Co., according to financial filings. Thats on top of the $431 million in debt that Wells Fargo has arranged for gun makers since December 2012, when the Sandy Hook school shooting escalated the gun control debate. No other bank lent more to the industry over that time, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The new debt, issued to one of the worlds largest publicly traded gun makers, came as a big surprise to at least one group: nuns who had been talking to Wells Fargo about corporate-responsibility issues. On Sept. 26, the day before the debt agreement was issued, they met with the banks business-standards employees in New York.

This is shocking news because we are in sustained dialogue with Wells Fargo, said Nora Nash, a sister at St. Francis of Philadelphia who was at the meeting as a member of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility. This new business relationship with Sturm Ruger is in direct conflict with ethics, culture and respect for human rights throughout the company.

Advertisement

Unlike Wells Fargo, a number of big banks, including Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., said they would reduce ties to gun makers after the February mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., that left 17 dead. Wells Fargo also has a long relationship with the NRA, offering credit and operating its primary bank accounts.

Wells Fargo said it continues to work with the Interfaith Center on business standards.

Wells Fargo wants schools and communities to be safe from gun violence, but changes to laws and regulations should be determined through a legislative process that gives the American public an opportunity to participate and not be arbitrarily set by a bank, the bank said in a statement.

Bank of America had extended credit to Ruger until June, when the line expired. After the Parkland shooting, it had specifically said it would stop lending to companies that make assault-style rifles  which the company does.

The Charlotte, N.C., bank said it doesnt comment on client matters. A representative for Ruger did not respond to requests for comment.

The religious community has been playing a shareholder-activist role on the gun issue. This year, groups introduced shareholder proposals at Ruger and American Outdoor Brands Corp., formerly known as Smith & Wesson Holding Corp., that require the companies to produce reports on gun safety. Both proposals passed.

The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility is involved in the business-standards review with Wells Fargo. The bank said in its 2018 proxy statement it has agreed to conduct the review and publish the results on its website by years end.

Its unknown how Ruger will use the line of credit. During an earnings call in February, President Christopher J. Killoy said the company was closely watching Remington Outdoor Co., a firearms and ammunition juggernaut that went through bankruptcy protection this year.

The line of credit gives them the flexibility to use the line or not use it, so is perfect for having the ability to make future acquisitions, said Rommel Dionisio, a gun-industry analyst with Aegis Capital Corp.

Laura Krausa, an investor in Ruger through the nonprofit Catholic Health Initiatives, said the company should use the debt to pay for research into smart guns.

In being optimistic, she said, we would really hope that a line of credit this large would be put to good use in really answering that call to have the gun manufacturers be a part of the solution to the increasing problem of gun violence in America.
Federal authorities say its an open-and-shut case. They say they caught an Arizona company spoofing phone numbers to make millions of telemarketing calls that falsely appeared on caller ID screens to be from local residents.

The Federal Communications Commission is so sure of its joint investigation with the Federal Trade Commission that it announced a proposed $37.5-million fine in the case.

This is the commissions first major enforcement action against a company that apparently commandeered consumers phone numbers, the FCC declared.

I dont doubt that authorities have uncovered something. But when I tracked down the various players in the drama, I came away with more questions than answers.

Advertisement

The company in question, Tucson-based Affordable Enterprises, made more than 2.3 million maliciously spoofed telemarketing calls to Arizonans during a 14-month span starting in 2016 to sell home improvement and remodeling services, according to the FCC.

It said the company apparently manipulated the caller ID information so that many calls appeared to come from consumers who were unconnected to the operation. Calls also appeared to come from unassigned phone numbers and numbers assigned to pre-paid burner phones.

In each case, the caller ID was spoofed and consumers were unable to identify from the caller ID that the call was from Affordable Enterprises.

A particularly insidious aspect of spoofing is that call recipients often dial the number on their screen to complain. That means theyre calling some unsuspecting nearby resident  the one who had their number spoofed  rather than the actual telemarketer.

One woman told the FCC she received about a half-dozen calls a day from cheesed-off people who thought she was responsible for violating the do-not-call list. It was actually Affordable Enterprises making the telemarketing calls, the FCC said.

Yet when I reached Affordable Enterprises co-owner, Jessika Cabrera, she professed total surprise at being the target of an FCC investigation and a massive fine. She said she hadnt even been notified by the commission.

I didnt do anything wrong, Cabrera told me. I dont see how this is even possible.

She pointed a finger at an Arizona company called JB Comm, which her firm hired to provide the automated dialing system for Affordable Enterprises telemarketing.

Theyre the ones you should be looking at, Cabrera said.

I reached Bruce Manning, co-owner of JB Comm, who immediately pointed a finger back at Cabrera.

Shes telling you a fib, he insisted. All we did was provide the system for outbound dialing. All the numbers called were from her. This is on them, not me.

I took that back to Cabrera.

Not true, she said. I purchased the phone numbers from him.

Back to Manning.

She did not buy them from me, I guarantee it, he said. She bought them from a broker.

Nothing like a multimillion-dollar fine to send telemarketers scurrying for cover.

Amid all this finger pointing, the FCC dug in its heels.

Will Wiquist, a spokesman for the commission, said the proposed $37.5-million fine follows a strong investigation by Enforcement Bureau staff.

He said the investigation was based in part on a whistleblower tip from a former Affordable Enterprises employee, as well as company phone records, which were then cross-referenced against the complaints submitted by consumers to the FCC and FTC.

I cant say how all this will play out. But I can certainly speak to the huge problem of spoofing  and the need for the telecom industry to play a more active role in safeguarding customers.

Cracking down on robocalls is one thing. Many people use filtering services such as NoMoRobo to try to prevent robocalls from getting through. Trouble is, robocallers just switch lines as soon as they see a line has been filtered.

Putting a halt to spoofing is far trickier, requiring phone-service providers to be proactive at the network level.

There are definitely things they could be doing, said Marc Bartholomew, chief executive of the Sherman Oaks cybersecurity firm Integritechs. However, they generally dont seem interested in doing them.

A big reason for that: money.

Its a matter of making small changes on a massive scale, Bartholomew told me. Thats expensive.

Estimates vary, but were almost certainly talking about each service provider spending millions of dollars. And since there are about 4,000 phone-service providers nationwide, thats some serious coin.

I asked the FCC what could be done. Wiquist steered me toward an initiative called SHAKEN/STIR.

Yes, its a geeky James Bond reference, which Ive written about before. Its also a clunky acronym for an automated system that would make sure all calls are from the numbers that appear on caller ID screens.

The way it works is a digital token is issued at the outset of a call, and that token is verified when the call reaches its intended recipient. If the tokens match, the call receives a thumbs-up and the recipient knows the call is legit.

A spoofed call wouldnt pass muster and would receive a thumbs-down from SHAKEN/STIR, and the recipient would know not to bother answering.

The technology apparently is ready for prime time. However, as Bartholomew noted, its pricey.

I reached out to major phone companies to gauge their interest in taking action against spoofed calls.

An AT&T spokesman said the company is working to implement a new industry standard which will help eliminate the use of illegitimate spoofed numbers from telephone systems. He was talking about SHAKEN/STIR, but working to implement isnt exactly a call to arms.

At least AT&T is acknowledging the issue, though.

Most of the responses I received were along the lines of what a Frontier Communications spokesman told me when he said strong enforcement against illegal robocallers is critical, and Frontier is actively engaged with industry efforts and the FCC to combat this growing problem.

Go team!

If the telecom industry cant handle this on its own, lawmakers should require timely implementation of SHAKEN/STIR.

Otherwise, robocallers and spoofers will continue making our phone lives miserable.

Except for the occasional time someone gets busted.

Whoever that may be.

David Lazarus column runs Tuesdays and Fridays. He also can be seen daily on KTLA-TV Channel 5 and followed on Twitter @Davidlaz. Send your tips or feedback to david.lazarus@latimes.com.
The US hardball trade strategy is a double whammy for the EU, writes Manal Lotfy in London

With a beaming smile, US President Donald Trump declared his biggest triumph yet in wake of a last-minute trade agreement with Canada that will keep alive the free trade area between US, Canada and Mexico.

In Trumps eye, his triumph is one of substance and style. His unconventional and personal style in deal making; hardball strategy.

His strategy forced Mexico to make concessions. And now it did the same with Canada.

So, after nearly a quarter of a century, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is officially dead and is replaced by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to the delight of Trump who repeatedly called NAFTA the worst deal ever.

These measures will support many  hundreds of thousands  American jobs, Trump said Monday at the White House, describing the trade deal as the most important the United States had ever made.

It means far more American jobs, and these are high-quality jobs, he said.

With the approaching midterm elections of the US Congress, you can only imagine the enthusiasm of the working class and popular bases of the Republican Party in the most rundown cities in the US.

Mr Trump did not fail to mention another two successes in his push to negotiate new one-on-one deals with big trade partners.

He hard pressed South Korea to agree to revise its accord with Washington under the threat of punitive tariffs. Then Japan gave in to pressure to start bilateral talks on a new deal.

Investors worldwide breathed a sigh of relief that the key players of NAFTA had survived President Trumps hardball strategy to remake the worlds trading system.

However, Trumps aggressive trade strategy is causing mayhem and chaos.

In his self-congratulatory statement at the White House, he warned other trading partners, mainly EU and China, they were in his sights.

No wonder markets are nervous.

The midnight deal with Canada serves as a testimony to President Trumps world trade strategy, which can be summed up as: America First; do not blink; and divide and conquer, as the US has sought to pick off trading partners across the world one by one, demanding concessions.

South Korea was one of the first countries to buckle under the pressure. Seoul agreed to adjust its trade deal with the US to limit steel exports and import more cars; in return it was granted exemptions from US tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. Then Japan followed, agreeing to adjust its trade terms.

The same tactics were used with Mexico and Canada, where US pressure pushed Mexico to break a promise to Canada that it would maintain a common front with Ottawa in the renegotiation.

After successfully rewriting the NAFTA agreement with Mexico and Canada, Trump has threatened to slap punitive tariffs on European Union car exports.

If we cant make a deal with the European Union, we will respectfully put tariffs on cars, he said.

The US has already levied tariffs on imports of EU steel and aluminium while Brussels has retaliated with tariffs on $3.2 billion worth of US goods.

Both the EU and US agreed in July not to step up their dispute, but Trumps statement is a sign that Washington is ready to resume a trade war with the EU if talks do not materialise a concrete compromise that will satisfy Trump as he again raised the spectre of a 25 per cent levy on imports of European cars.

Trump also dismissed critics of his tariff policies as babies, emphasising that tariff threats had brought trading partners to the negotiating table.

His shock tariff threat increased recession fears in the EU.

A new report commissioned by the German government shows that the country  and the rest of the EU  would be plunged into severe recession if there was an escalation of trade disputes with Washington, as well as the impact of Brexit.

It warned that the European automotive sector will suffer if President Trump followed through on previous threats to impose sanctions on EU car exports.

The report also warned that US tariffs would lead to immediate job losses. Any escalation of the trade conflict, leading to considerable tariff increases by the US on a broad front, is likely to trigger a severe recession in Germany and Europe, it said.

Although the report did not give a predicted timeframe for the EU doomsday scenario, it cut the 2018 GDP growth forecast from 2.2 per cent to 1.7 per cent.

However, the researchers from the German Institute for Economic Research, the Ifo Institute for Economic Research, the RWI Leibniz-Institute for Economic Research, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and the Halle Institute for Economic Research, said retaliatory measures from the EU would soften the impact and could even trigger a severe recession in the US.

It is double whammy for the EU as the trade war between the US and China will also affect the EU economy. Let us not forget that China is the second largest trading partner of Europe.

So far, Trumps administration has slapped record duties of $250 billion on Chinese imports to the US.

The EU and the US had shared similar concerns over Chinas trade and economic practices, such as restricting the access of foreign companies to Chinas market, while giving subsidies and preferential treatment to state-owned enterprises.

However, all signs show that the Euro Zone will be the big loser in a US trade war with China, due to the lack of structural reform in countries such as Italy, Greece and France.

Last months agreement between Washington and Brussels to suspend new tariffs was a worrying sign for China amid its trade war with Washington.

The EU, however, is not yet ready to join forces with the United States against China.

Last month, China and the EU said they were strongly committed to resisting protectionism.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned Europe not to stab China in the back because Beijing was at the forefront of efforts to protect the global trade regime.

But with Trumps hard-pressing and divide and conquer strategy, Brussels finds itself in a delicate position.

In an apocalyptic note, WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo said, warning lights are flashing and the world must act immediately.

The European Union faces 1.7 per cent wiped from its GDP growth if the US were to act against the EU, he said. That equals 255 billion ($335 billion) of the EUs 15 trillion ($19.7 trillion) GDP.

In the short term, working with Trump against China could be beneficial, but the long-term consequences are damaging for everyone, including the US, because signs of a probable recession are present for everyone to see.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 4 October, 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Trumps trade stance causes mayhem

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Emmy Award-winning actor Dabney Coleman is looking to play the part of landlord, listing his Traditional-style home in Brentwood for rent at $11,500 a month.

Built in 1948 and renovated a decade ago, the two-story home has four bedrooms and 3 bathrooms in just under 3,000 square feet.

On the main floor, an indoor-outdoor living room sits across from a family room with built-ins and a brick wall painted white. Hardwood lines the space beneath.

Advertisement

Brick makes another appearance in the kitchen, encasing the stove and stainless steel appliances. The space opens directly to a covered patio, which adjoins a kidney-shaped swimming pool bordered by landscaping.

Upstairs, the master suite presents a spa tub and steam shower, and French doors open to a terrace that takes in the backyard. A pair of lawns round out the grounds.

Kathleen Carter of Pacific Union International holds the listing.

Coleman, 86, is known for roles in the films 9 to 5, Tootsie, The Towering Inferno and The Beverly Hillbillies. On television, he was the title character in Buffalo Bill and also had roles in The Guardian and the CBS sitcom Courting Alex, as well as the TV movie Sworn to Silence, winning an Emmy for the last.

jack.flemming@latimes.com | Twitter: @jflem94
By July of 2019, Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont) aims to see the House of Representatives pass landmark legislation shielding consumers from the onslaught of data breaches and the anxiety and confusion over the misuse of their personal information on the web.

To nudge such legislation along, Khanna recently unveiled a list of 10 principles amounting to a draft Internet Bill of Rights that he hopes will inform sweeping data privacy laws to protect American citizens in the digital age.

Theres great concern that Americans have about the protection of their privacy online and about their security online, Khanna said in an interview Friday.

This list contains principles that many lawmakers, consumer advocates and technologists have long clamored for, including network neutrality, greater transparency into data-collection practices and timely notification if a company holding personal data suffers a hack.

Advertisement

Previous congressional efforts to pass data protection laws have failed to advance, even in the wake of the massive Equifax breach disclosed last year and Facebooks Cambridge Analytica scandal that broke in March. But even Republican officials have suggested the momentum has shifted.

The question is no longer whether we need a national law to protect consumers privacy, Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) said in an op-ed last month. The question is what shape that law should take.

The European Unions General Data Protection Regulation, which went into effect in May, has swayed industry players to work on uniform rules  as has the recent passage of Californias robust privacy law. And the prospect rises of other states passing similar restrictions on data-harvesting practices.

Expanding access to a safe and secure Internet and protecting consumers remains a top priority for House Democrats, said Taylor Griffin, a spokeswoman for Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, (D-San Francisco), in a statement.

Khanna said Pelosi asked him to began drafting the Bill of Rights six months ago, but the work to turn the principles into law will fall under the jurisdiction of the House Energy and Committee, in the next Congress, he added.

The draft bill of rights states:

Consumers should have the right:

1. to have access to and knowledge of all collection and uses of personal data by companies;

2. to opt-in consent to the collection of personal data by any party and to the sharing of personal data with a third party;

3. where context appropriate and with a fair process, to obtain, correct or delete personal data controlled by any company and to have those requests honored by third parties;

4. to have personal data secured and to be notified in a timely manner when a security breach or unauthorized access of personal data is discovered;

5. to move all personal data from one network to the next;

6. to access and use the internet without internet service providers blocking, throttling, engaging in paid prioritization or otherwise unfairly favoring content, applications, services or devices;

7. to internet service without the collection of data that is unnecessary for providing the requested service absent opt-in consent;

8. to have access to multiple viable, affordable internet platforms, services and providers with clear and transparent pricing;

9. not to be unfairly discriminated against or exploited based on your personal data; and

10. to have an entity that collects your personal data have reasonable business practices and accountability to protect your privacy.

Shaban writes for the Washington Post
From The Merchant of Venice reconsidered from a Jewish perspective, to a solo show culled from the ranks of New Yorks homeless, this weeks 99 Seat Beat is an eclectic sampling that also includes a behind-the-scenes look at the Manhattan Project and a naughtily witty updating of Molieres The Misanthrope.

The Bench, A Homeless Love Story, Hudson Guild Theatre

The essentials: Writer/performer Robert Galinskys solo show, now in its West Coast premiere, is based on actual people encountered by Galinsky in his New York neighborhood. The plays valiant have-nots form a cohesive family unit as they struggle on the margins of an unforgiving society.

Why this? An activist who regularly volunteers in prisons and halfway houses, Galinsky states that each characters backstories are real. Galinsky brings a wrenching realism to his material  a slice of life carved from the lower depths. Directed by Jay O. Sanders, the play is once again being produced by Tony-winner Terry Schnuck and presented by Chris Noth (Sex and the City) and Obie and Drama Desk winner Barry Shabaka Henley  all from the original off-Broadway production.

Advertisement

Details: Hudson Guild Theatre, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Fridays. Ends Nov. 9. $25. (323) 960-7822. www.plays411.com/thebench

James Liebman, center, plays the title role in Oppenheimer at Rogue Machine Theatre. (John Perrin Flynn)

Oppenheimer, Rogue Machine at the Electric Lodge

The essentials: J. Robert Oppenheimer assembles an elite team of the most brilliant minds in history in the race against the Nazis to build the atomic bomb and end war for all time.

Why this? Playwright Tom Morton-Smiths behind-the-scenes drama makes the science behind the fabled Manhattan Project richly comprehensible to the layman  no easy task. Even more impressive, his play, which transpires over 60 scenes and contains two dozen-plus characters, also treats the inner workings of the enigmatic Oppenheimers complicated personal life. Its a massive undertaking by any standard, but for director John Perrin Flynn, simplicity is the goal in a technically pared-down staging that makes momentum a key component. This American premiere of a London hit  the inaugural outing in Rogue Machines new Venice venue  is a coup for this intrepid company, which never shies away from a challenge.

Details: Electric Lodge, 1416 Electric Avenue, Venice. $40. (855) 585-5185. www.roguemachinetheatre.com

Lara Hillier and Jill Van Velzer star in the Ensemble Theatre Companys production of The School of Lies, directed by Jonathan Fox. (David Bazemore / David Bazemore Photo)

The School for Lies, Ensemble Theatre Company at the New Vic in Santa Barbara

The essentials: In David Ives adaptation of Molieres The Misanthrope, Frank, the savagely censorious misanthrope of the title, detests all mankind, asserting The truest democrat on this earths crust. I treat all men with uniform disgust. Clearly, however, his revulsion does not extend to Celimene, a sharp-witted beauty whose excoriating wit rivals his own. Their hilariously scathing exchanges lead to  what else?  true love.

Why this?: From one-acts to musicals to magazine articles, the prodigiously prolific Ives is perhaps most celebrated for his adaptations of 17th and 18th century French classics. A hectic blend of crossed signals, mistaken motivations and trenchant dialogue, School is written in deceptively elegant verse that adds comedic shock value to its crudities. The Ensemble Theatre has had hits with Ives plays (The Liar, Venus in Furs), and director Jonathan Fox is hopeful that this productions brilliant combination of classical comedy and contemporary sensibility will once again draw crowds. School opens the companys 40th anniversary season.

Details: The New Vic, 33 W. Victoria St., Santa Barbara. 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays; 2 and 7 p.m. Sundays. Also 7 p.m. Tuesday Oct. 9 and 4 p.m. Saturday Oct. 13. Ends Oct. 21. $60-$75. (805) 965-5400. www.etcsb.org

Paul Culos plays Lorenzo in Everything That Never Happened (Jenny Graham)

Everything that Never Happened, Boston Court Pasadena

The essentials: Sarah B. Mantells world premiere adaptation uses The Merchant of Venice, debatably one of Shakespeares problem plays, as the springboard for a pointedly contemporary drama told from a Jewish point of view.

Why this? Spanning the 16th century and the present day, Mantells boldly elliptical drama jettisons certain protagonists while augmenting lesser characters. Antonio is never seen, Portia doesnt even rate a mention, while Shylocks relationship with his daughter, Jessica, who elopes with Lorenzo, a Christian, becomes central to the story. As Mantell observes, I wanted to give these characters a chance to speak in Jewish voices for the first time. To give them back their history, their humor, and their heartbreak. Veteran director Jessica Kubzansky helms Mantells timely  even overdue  new play.

Details: Boston Court Pasadena, 70 N. Mentor Ave., Pasadena. 8 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays. Ends Nov. 4. $20-$39. (626) 683-6801. www.BostonCourtPasadena.org
For Lucas Hedges, the first day of rehearsal is like the first day of the new school year.

He was so keyed up before the company meet-and-greet for The Waverly Gallery, the Kenneth Lonergan drama now in previews at Broadways John Golden Theatre, that he did yoga twice.

I did online yoga, he said. I didnt go to two classes. It didnt really help. I always end up smiling way too much and hugging the producers a lot. But the second we started reading, I knew why I was there.

Hedges, not surprisingly, called Lonergan his favorite writer. He received a supporting Oscar nomination for his performance in Lonergans 2016 film Manchester by the Sea, the role that catapulted him into national attention. But actors seem to be universally drawn to the slow simmer of Lonergans psychologically unerring dramas.

Advertisement

The phrase slow simmer came directly from Michael Cera, another Waverly Gallery cast member, who was sitting across from Hedges at the Algonquin Hotel, where we met for tea to talk about the production. The dream ensemble, under the direction of Lila Neugebauer, is rounded out by Elaine May (yes, that Elaine May), Tony-winner Joan Allen and David Cromer, who won a Tony this year for his staging of The Bands Visit and who can be coaxed into flexing his acting muscles when the right part comes his way.

It would be understandable for a 21-year-old actor making his Broadway debut to have few butterflies, and Hedges was vibrating like a plucked string. During the course of our conversation, Cera, a veteran actor at 30, became like an older brother to Hedges, offering in the spirit of diffident camaraderie the benefits of his Broadway experience in two other Lonergan plays, This Is Our Youth and Lobby Hero.

Rehearsals were at the table-work stage, that phase when members of the company, still just getting acquainted, sit around dissecting the play scene by scene. Too many cooks are said to spoil the broth, but whats it like to be preparing the way for a production with a cast that includes two world-class directors?

Its like were in the best English class ever, Hedges answered with coltish enthusiasm. Cera agreed, but acknowledged that the situation is odd.

Its been a cerebral process so far, he said. Breaking down scenes and everybody talking and unpacking. Elaine and David are both wearing their actor hats. They have a nose for the essence of a moment, so theyll find that in maybe a more efficient way.

But first, it feels as if everybody is kind and so considerate, Hedges said. Before anything else, it feels as if were with good people.

Theater isnt natural. You have to find a way to make something that you know is going to happen surprise you. Lucas Hedges

The Waverly Gallery, which had its New York premiere in 2000 in a production that starred the one and rasping only Eileen Heckart, is a memory play. Or as Hedges compendiously described it: Its a memory play told from the perspective of the grandson about his grandmother, who loses her ability to remember things.

Hedges, who plays Daniel, the grandson of Gladys (incarnated by May), finds extreme beauty in that simple description of a work Lonergan dedicated to his grandmother and mother. Painfully, humorously and lovingly autobiographical, the play, set between 1989 and 1991, revolves around a New York family that Daniel memorably categorizes as liberal Upper West Side atheistic Jewish intellectuals who really like German choral music.

Gladys, an old-school Greenwich Village lefty who owns a Washington Square art gallery around the corner from her apartment building, where her grandson also lives, is rapidly losing her words and, over time, her ability to care for herself. But before her memory problems become disabling, she allows an itinerant New England artist named Don to not only show his work at her gallery but also to sleep on a cot in the back of the shop.

Cera plays Don, the eccentric stray whom Gladys daughter, Ellen (Allen), and Ellens second husband, Howard (Cromer), both Manhattan psychiatrists, insist on meeting before he moves into the gallery. Gladys trusting nature and mental decline make her an easy target, but the true menace of the play is the deterioration wreaked by time  on Gladys mind, on a Greenwich Village that is becoming simultaneously more dangerous and more expensive (putting in jeopardy the lease on the gallery) and on a loving family faced with a healthcare dilemma in which there is no good solution.

Kenny said today that this is a play about what people do when theres nothing to do, Cera said. The big problem of Gladys health is completely out of their control. But so even are the small things, like the practicalities of her living situation and the way she gets shut out of her own gallery.

Cera and Hedges were thrilled to be working with May, whose career as a screenwriter, director, actor and Mike Nichols crackling comedy partner is so singular that even her notorious flop (Ishtar) is the stuff of legend.

I hope to God Im anywhere near that cool when Im 86 years old, Cera said. Shes the smartest person in the room and funny and sweet. Im learning from the kinds of questions shes asking.

Hedges was even more effusive: Sometimes she opens her mouth and offers something so insightful about my character. Shes so generous and kind, and when I have doubts, I just have to look at her, and seeing her is enough. The play is about my characters memory of her character, so its really perfect that the part is being played by someone worth talking about.

Micahel Cera, left, and Lucas Hedges during rehearsals for The Waverly Gallery. (Brigitte Lacombe)

Both Hedges and Cera started acting when they were young, but their routes were different. Cera, who found cult fame on the TV series Arrested Development before turning his slacker vulnerabilities to the big screen with Juno and Superbad, learned his craft on the job. Hedges, the son of novelist, playwright and screenwriter Peter Hedges, was born into the New York theater community and pursued training for a year at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where, in addition to getting some valuable instruction, he recalled being told that he was really bad.

Halfway through that year, Manchester by the Sea came out, so I was extremely confused, he said. I had no idea who to believe or what to believe. I was sort of stuck in an abusive relationship with all my teachers.

Good thing you pulled out of that, Cera interjected.

Kenny is honestly the one who changed everything, Hedges said.

Hedges father and Lonergan were off-Broadway playwrights who came up together in the 1980s. Hedges was delighted to learn that Lonergan met him when he was just a toddler, and he was overjoyed when he was shown a photo of his father and Lonergan together, because he had never seen them hanging out.

But even with all the family connections, Hedges had to audition multiple times for Manchester. Eventually, Lonergan gave him the part. But even more, he gave me technique, Hedges said.

He credits the few words Lonergan would offer between takes as the secret ingredient in a performance that comes across as completely spontaneous and natural. Hedges summoned the same magic in Greta Gerwigs 2017 film Lady Bird, proving himself to be a speedy learner.

Cera asked Hedges whether they rehearsed a lot before shooting Manchester. Hedges, whose disarming openness softens the glare of his golden boy looks, answered, I dont remember it helping. I didnt know how to turn it to my advantage.

Stage fright has dogged him. Hedges told a story about playing Puck in a school production of A Midsummer Nights Dream and being so overcome with nerves that he bent down to tie his shoe during one of his speeches and for another monologue brought someone up from the audience to distract himself from his terror.

Sounds like a blackout, Cera said.

Theater just scared the [crap] out of me, Hedges said. So I knew I had to train.

Hedges wondered if, without formal acting training, Cera thinks in terms of objectives and intentions. I dont think in that vocabulary specifically, Cera said. But maybe I do without assigning it.

Thats really cool, Hedges replied.

Although Cera wasnt in the original productions of the plays that made Lonergans reputation, its hard to imagine them now without him. Hes become as quintessential a Lonergan actor as Mark Ruffalo or Josh Hamilton, both of whom starred in This Is Our Youth when the play had its New York premiere in 1996.

No, Cera didnt have to audition for This Is Our Youth. (Hedges wanted to know.) It was Kieran Culkin who brought Lonergan and him together. Culkin wanted to play Dennis in This Is Our Youth and gave the script to Cera, who he rightly assumed would make a perfect Warren. Kieran basically put the bug in Kennys ear, he said.

Kenny said ... this is a play about what people do when theres nothing to do Michael Cera

Cera is on a Lonergan roll. His performance in Lobby Hero, his second stint on Broadway, earned him a Tony nomination this year.

Have you felt a shift in yourself as an actor since working this much onstage? Hedges asked.

I couldnt really say, but you get to practice more, Cera replied. The accumulated hours of performing is unusual.

You dont really get to act all that much inside a movie, Hedges mused.

Its a lot of idling and prepping, Cera agreed.

Its really easy for me to fall into a pattern, so Im trying on this one to stay loose and to get out of my head. Im predicting a fight, but its one Im really up for.

Hedges explained his thinking: Theater isnt natural. I mean it is, but its also artificial. You have to find a way to make something that you know is going to happen surprise you. That goes against what we as humans are supposed to do, how were supposed to be in our environment.

Cera admitted that the challenge of sustaining a performance is the toughest part of the job, but its so worth it.

Do you, like, have no social life when you do a play? Hedges asked, uncertain whether he wanted to hear the answer.

No, you kind of do, Cera replied. Friends come see the show, you go out, hang with people during the day if theyre around. You make it work.

A look of relief washed over Hedges face.

Cera told a story that made them both feel better: A friend of mine saw Lobby Hero and said afterward that they shouldnt let actors read scenes from Kennys plays in acting class. They should make them read from a failed pilot, because actors shouldnt get used to writing that offers so much to work with. It will only spoil you.

Its really rare to work with such great source material, Hedges concurred, beamingly.

charles.mcnulty@latimes.com

Follow me @charlesmcnulty
Mika Brzezinski apologizes for homophobic insult of Pompeo By Tracy Brown Morning Joe co-hosts Mika Brzezinski, left, and Joe Scarborough. (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski has apologized for referring to Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo as wannabe dictator President Trumps butt boy. During a segment discussing the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi on the MSNBC show Wednesday morning, Brzezinski questioned whether Pompeos comments were the words of a patriot. I understand that Donald Trump doesnt care.  He doesnt care, said Brzezinski. But why doesnt Mike Pompeo care right now? Are the pathetic deflections that we just heard when he appeared on Fox & Friends, is that a patriot speaking? Or a wannabe dictators butt boy? Critics were quick to point out the homophobic nature of the insult, and Brzezinski promptly apologized on Twitter for her super bad choice of words. (While sometimes referring to a person eager to please for personal gain, a butt boy is also understood as a derogatory term for gay men.) I should have said water boy like for football teams or something like that, tweeted Brzezinski. So Sorry! And its not the first time Trumps critics have been called out for relying on homophobic jokes in their efforts to mock the president. Totally agree with you -SUPER BAD choice of words .. I should have said water boy... like for football teams or something like that.. apologize to @SenatorDurbin too! SO SORRY! https://t.co/zIqsGdK3Tk  Mika Brzezinski (@morningmika) December 12, 2018 Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Baby, Its Cold Outside bites back as fans embrace embattled holiday song Fans are pushing back against the Baby, Its Cold Outside backlash, driving the song to surge in both sales and streaming. (Eric Risberg / Associated Press) Baby, Its Cold Outside got a chilly reception on some airwaves earlier this year, but the seasonal favorite is heating up the charts, thanks to loyal fans who are pushing back against, well, the backlash. The tune has grown controversial in recent years, due to a changing cultural climate and conversations cropping up in the wake of #MeToo, prompting some radio stations to remove the song from airplay. But the tide appears to be turning for Baby, Its Cold Outside. On Monday, San Francisco-area radio station KOIT-FM (96.5) announced that it had returned the song to its rotation after a vast majority of listeners in an online poll voted to have it reinstated. KOITs listeners have spoken, and the overwhelming message is they do want to hear Baby, Its Cold Outside on our station, as they have throughout the years, KOIT program director Brian Figula said in Mondays statement. The radio station was one of several that had excised the song from their playlists, is now among those that reversed their original decision after fan outrage. And its not just on the radio where Baby is gaining ground. Billboards Holiday Digital Song Sales chart for the week of Dec. 15 feature three different versions of the song, with Dean Martins 1959 rendition at No. 2, Idina Menzel and Michael Bubles 2014 duet reentering the chart at No. 29, and Leon Redbone and Zooey Deschanels 2003 duet from the Elf soundtrack debuting at No. 41. As for radio stations, they remain dedicated to giving the audience what it wants. More than seven out of every ten listeners who responded said although some lyrics of the song may reflect a different era and a different sensibility than today, still they love the tradition and history of the song, and want to hear it as part of their holiday season, Figulas statement added. At KOIT, we always listen carefully when our listeners take time to comment. In this case, it was very obvious what they wanted us to do. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Selena series based on the life of the Tejano singer ordered at Netflix By Los Angeles Times Staff The late Tejano singer Selena was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2021 Grammys. (Photo by Rick Corrales) Netflix is ready to Bidi Bidi Bom Bom. The streaming platform has ordered a new scripted series about the life of famed Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla. Selena: The Series will follow the coming-of-age of a young Selena as her dreams of becoming a professional singer come to fruition, forcing her and her family to make life-changing personal and professional choices. The family of the late singer is involved with the project and will serve as executive producers. Moises Zamora (Star, American Crime) is attached to write and executive-produce the series, which hails from Campanario Entertainment. Selena will always have a lasting place in music history and we feel great responsibility to do justice to her memory. With this series, viewers will finally get the full history of Selena, our family, and the impact she has had on all of our lives, Suzette Quintanilla, Selenas sister, said in a statement. We are excited to partner with Campanario and Netflix to give fans a never-before-seen glimpse at our story and highlight why Selena will remain a legend for generations to come. Selena rose to fame in the late 80s and early 90s with hits like Bidi Bidi Bom Bom and Como La Flor. She was shot and killed in 1995 at the age of 25 by her former fan club manager. Her death came months before she was slated to release her first crossover English-language album, which featured the hit singles I Could Fall in Love and Dreaming of You. Jennifer Lopez famously played the singer in a 1997 biopic, which marked one of Lopezs early breakout roles. More recently, Selena served as the inspiration for a posthumous makeup line for MAC cosmetics that launched in 2016. There is no premiere date yet for the series. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Heres how to watch the SAG Award nominations on Wednesday By Nardine Saad Hump day might be a lot more enjoyable this week thanks to Awkwafina, Laverne Cox and the Screen Actors Guild. Cox (Orange Is the New Black and Bad Hair) and Awkwafina (Oceans 8 and Crazy Rich Asians) are teaming up to announce the nominations for the 25th SAG Awards on Wednesday and will hopefully enliven the typical awards-show announcements with their sass and comedic chops. The acting nominees will be revealed at 7 a.m. Pacific time at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood. The announcement  being made on TNT, TBS and truTV  will also be carried live on each outlets website and social media pages, as well as the SAG Awards site. Heres when and how to watch: Live on TNT, TBS and TruTV and their websites and social media pages

tntdrama.com/sag-awards

truTV.comsagawards.org

TNTs Facebook, Twitter @TNTdrama and YouTube channel

TBS Facebook, Twitter @tbsnetwork and YouTube channel

The SAG Awards homepage Actresses Awkwafina, left, and Laverne Cox will announce the Screen Actors Guild Award nominees on Wednesday. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris will introduce Awkwafina and Cox. Before that  at 6:50 a.m. Pacific  nominees in the the stunt ensemble categories will be announced by SAG Awards Committee chair JoBeth Williams and committee member Elizabeth McLaughlin during a live webcast on TNT and the SAG Awards websites. The 25th SAG Awards ceremony will be simulcast live on Jan. 27 at 5 p.m. Pacific on TNT and TBS and on the networks mobile and smart TV apps. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Hoda Kotb in tears after Kathie Lee Gifford announces Today exit By Nardine Saad Hoda Kotb, left, and Kathie Lee Gifford have co-anchored the Today show since 2008. (Nathan Congleton / NBC) Kathie Lee Giffords announcement that shes leaving NBCs Today show reduced her on-air BFF Hoda Kotb to a sea of tears on Tuesday, and their life preserver was the box of tissues that a prop master dropped from the ceiling. Kotb, who knew about Giffords departure before the live announcement, was still emotional afterward, telling her longtime co-host that she had changed her life. The minute you stepped into my life with both feet, everything changed, Kotb said through tears, prompting the tissue-box drop. You chose me and thats how it started, she added. I was thinking about everything good thats happened in my life has happened since you came. "Its bittersweet, as these things always are@kathielgifford announces she will be leaving TODAY on her 11th anniversary in April 2019. pic.twitter.com/YsHIq6c9ev  TODAY (@TODAYshow) December 11, 2018 Kotb, who has become a fan favorite since co-hosting the freewheeling 10 a.m. hour of the program with Gifford since 2008, said Gifford hiring her enabled her to meet husband Joel Schiffman and adopt their daughter, Haley Joy Kotb. Gifford also invited Kotb to meet her family when she first joined the Today team. Everything happened.  How does one person step in your life and change it like that? And you did that for me, Kotb said. Gifford, who will officially sign off the show in April, referred to Kotb as a beautiful Egyptian goddess and thanked their viewers for sticking with them from their disastrous early days as a nothing burger outside on the plaza. You start sharing life, and your friendship shows up on the air, Gifford said. We werent colleagues very long. We became friends and now were going to be friends for the rest of our lives. Im grateful to God for you, Gifford added. Gods used you in my life every bit as much as hes used me in yours, sweetie. Thats the way it goes. No crumbs on his table. Gifford has co-anchored Todays fourth hour with Kotb for the last decade and is retiring from the program to pursue other creative endeavors. I had a chance to work with a legend... not something many people get to say in their lifetime.. but thanks to you @KathieLGifford .... I get to xxxx https://t.co/sXGdwmq7vm  Hoda Kotb (@hodakotb) December 11, 2018 Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Times Person of the Year? Four journalists and a newspaper, guardians in the war on truth By Associated Press (Time magazine) Times Person of the Year recognition for 2018 is shining a collective spotlight on guardians in what the magazine calls the war on truth. The group is made up of four journalists and a newspaper that Time says are representatives of a broader fight by countless others around the world. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Carol Burnett to receive inaugural Golden Globe award for TV achievement Carol Burnett will need to clear some space on her crowded mantel: At next months Golden Globes ceremony, she will pick up yet another award honoring her long and distinguished career in television. The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. announced Tuesday morning that Burnett will receive the inaugural Carol Burnett Award, a new prize honoring lifetime achievement in television. The award was teased at last weeks nominations announcement for the Globes; its meant to be a bookend prize to the HFPAs Cecil B. DeMille Award for film achievement. A five-time Golden Globe winner, Burnett is also the most decorated honoree of all time in the TV category, according to the organization. For more than 50 years, comedy trailblazer Carol Burnett has been breaking barriers while making us laugh, HFPA President Meher Tatna said in a statement Tuesday. She was the first woman to host a variety sketch show, The Carol Burnett Show. She was also the first woman to win both the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor and Kennedy Center Honors. And now we add another first to her running list: the first recipient  and namesake  of the new Golden Globe top honor for achievement in television, the Carol Burnett Award. Burnett, 85, will receive the award at the Golden Globes ceremony, which NBC will broadcast live from coast to coast on Jan. 6 from the Beverly Hilton hotel. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Andy Serkis revives Gollum as a Brexit-obsessed Theresa May By Tracy Brown As if British Prime Minister Theresa May werent in enough of a Brexit bind, now she has to deal with a biting Andy Serkis impersonation thats making the digital rounds. Literally biting because its Serkis via his immortal rendition of Gollum. The Lord of the Rings actor reprised a version of the One Ring-obsessed character in a new video posted by We Wants It. Much like the Gollum of the film series, Serkis May has her own fixation: the Brexit withdrawal agreement. Oh, Precious, our agreement, says a blue-suit clad Serkis. This is it. Our deal  We takes back control: Money, borders, laws, blue passportses. But another May personality quickly rebuts: No. It hurts the people. Makes them poorer. The parody features the two sides of May arguing with herself and its somehow both hilarious and terrifying. One personality only cares about how much she wants the juicy and sweet deal, while the other recognizes that there are plenty of people opposed to the idea. They hates the deal, all of them hates it. They wants a peoples vote, Gollum/May says to herself. The Peoples Vote refers to the efforts of those in the U.K. calling for a public vote on whether Britain will leave or remain in the EU based on the terms of the final exit agreement. On Monday, the real May delayed the parliamentary vote for the Brexit plan because she feared it did not have enough support to pass. The vote had been scheduled for Tuesday. While May has defended the deal (that EU leaders have said is the only one on the table), it has been slammed by both Brexit-backers and remainers who oppose leaving the 28-nation bloc. As of now Britain is scheduled to leave the EU on March 29, 2019. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Sarah Hyland of Modern Family opens up about second kidney transplant By Nardine Saad Sarah Hyland (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) After her body rejected her first kidney transplant, Modern Family star Sarah Hyland underwent dialysis last year and had to have a second transplant, she revealed Monday in an interview. Recovery from that surgery has been relatively smooth, but the 28-year-old has contended with a spate of other medical issues that resulted in additional procedures. After the second transplant, she had surgery to mitigate her endometriosis and another to repair a hernia. The chronic illnesses have resulted in six surgeries in the past 16 months, she told Self magazine, where she opened up about her tumultuous medical journey. Im stable. Im thriving. Im super happy with life, the 28-year-old actress said. .@sarah_hyland was born with kidney dysplasia. She went into kidney failure, and needed a transplant. In 2012, her dad gave her one of his. What Hyland hasnt been ready to share until now is that in 2016, her body began to reject the donated kidney. https://t.co/iAw8rdXJ1z pic.twitter.com/rR0xqZPiGy  SELF (@SELFmagazine) December 10, 2018 Hyland was born with kidney dysplasia, which causes the organs to grow debilitating cysts. She had a kidney transplant in 2012, with her father giving one of his kidneys to his daughter. But in October 2016, her body began rejecting the transplant and  under the scrutiny of social media and the public eye  Hylands weight dropped, her face swelled due to immunosuppressant drugs and fluid retention and her blood pressure spiked, damaging her vision, the mag said. The candid star said she began dialysis in February 2017 to filter her blood because her kidneys couldnt. However, the treatment fell short and the transplanted kidney had to come out. Doctors removed it that May, then in September of that year transplanted a kidney donated by her younger brother, Ian. I was very depressed, she told the magazine. When a family member gives you a second chance at life, and it fails, it almost feels like its your fault. Its not. But it does. Hyland felt completely helpless, she said, and for a long time contemplated suicide. I didnt want to fail my little brother like I failed my dad, she said. I had gone through [my whole life] of always being a burden, of always having to be looked after, having to be cared for. The thoughts subsided after she reached out to a friend, and she encouraged others to do the same. Its not shameful, she said. For anybody that wants to reach out to somebody but doesnt really know how because theyre too proud or they think that theyll be looked upon as weak, its not a shameful thing to say. Its not a shameful thing to share. Hyland said on Instagram on Monday that she shared her story so others might feel like theyre not alone. Hopefully those that are lucky enough not to experience this will learn about something new and take a moment to appreciate their health, she wrote. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

New Godzilla: King of the Monsters trailer features the titan fights youre craving When the first trailer for Godzilla: King of the Monsters was released in July, it delved deep into the lives of its human characters  which was fine  and was accompanied by Debussys Clair de Lune  which was awesome  and everyone seemed happy to see that the titular titan seemed to be doing OK for himself. It was arty and magnificent. But there wasnt any fighting. And there was barely any destruction. And if youre coming in here to sell me a Godzilla film, then by gosh, it had better be apocalyptic. Luckily, most of that appears to be rectified in the second trailer for Godzilla: King of the Monsters, which was released Monday morning. While the humans are still hanging out in the background, wringing their hands and staring in mute disbelief, far more of the footage is given over to the wrath of the titans. Heck, Godzilla even takes on King Ghidorah head-to-head(-to-head-to-head) and it looks amazing. See what it looks like when the world burns, but this time the old gods are to blame. Godzilla: King of the Monsters is scheduled to stomp its way into theaters May 31. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

New Stranger Things teaser reveals totally 80s episode titles By Nardine Saad Its summer 1985 and things are still pretty strange in Hawkins, Ind. Netflix on Sunday unveiled a teaser for Season 3 of Stranger Things, giving fans a list of eight episode titles to mine for clues about the sci-fi series new season. The new season will reunite viewers with Chief Hopper (David Harbour), Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown), Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and their gang of middle-school outcasts, who find themselves at the center of the peculiar happenings in their small town. The streaming giant also confirmed a 2019 release for the new season, which will center on the already announced arrival of the Starcourt shopping mall, which makes the finale episode title all the more foreboding. (Check out that earlier teaser below.) Heres the title list: Suzie, Do you Copy?

The Mall Rats

The Case of the Missing Lifeguard

The Sauna Test

The Source

The Birthday

The Bite

The Battle of Starcourt In March, Netflix announced that Priah Ferguson would return as Lucas Sinclairs (Caleb McLaughlin) younger sister Erica, and Maya Hawke was cast in the new role of Robin. Last week, the Emmy-winning show earned a Golden Globe nomination for dramatic television series and a supporting actor nod for Harbour, who in addition to playing the town sheriff is now Elevens adoptive father. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Americans, Gianni Versace and Dannemora lead Critics Choice TV nominees By Libby Hill The Broadcast Film Critics Assn. clearly has a thing for crime, with Mondays announcement of the TV nominees for the 24th annual Critics Choice Awards revealing lots of love for shows about skirting the law. The Americans, famous for its super sneaky Russian spies; The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story and its depiction of the murder and aftermath; and Escape at Dannemora, with its tale of a real life jailbreak, lead all television nominees with five mentions apiece. Gianni Versace and Dannemora are competing in limited series, with Americans in drama, but all four projects were buoyed by their performances, which got four nominations each. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

The Favourite and Black Panther lead film nominees for Critics Choice Awards By Libby Hill The Broadcast Film Critics Assn. announced its film nominees for the 24th Critics Choice Awards on Monday, with period black comedy The Favourite earning 14 nominations, just ahead of box office blockbuster Black Panther, which scored 12. Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz all garnered nominations for their performances in The Favourite, with Yorgos Lanthimos also nominated for direction and editing. Nipping at the heels of the two front runners are Damien Chazelles First Man with 10, Mary Poppins Returns, A Star is Born and Vice all nabbing nine nominations each and Roma with eight notices. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Times Person of the Year shortlist includes Meghan Markle, director Ryan Coogler, President Trump and separated families By Nardine Saad Actress-turned-duchess Meghan Markle is on Time magazines short list for 2018 Person of the Year. (Gareth Fuller / Associated Press) Actress-turned-duchess Meghan Markle and Black Panther director Ryan Coogler joined Donald Trump, separated families, Robert S. Mueller III and Christine Blasey Ford on Time magazines shortlist for the 2018 Person of the Year. Selected by the magazines editors since 1927, the title is bestowed on a person  or people  who most influenced the news and the world, for better or for worse, during the last year. On Monday, the magazine revealed the top 10 candidates on NBCs Today show, which will also name the titleholder on Tuesdays show. Markle and Coogler were the only entertainment figures represented during another contentious news year. Last year, the Silence Breakers who spoke out against sexual assault and misconduct earned the magazines cover spot. Heres the shortlist for @TIMEs Person of the Year #TIMEPOY pic.twitter.com/kHAmF8A3ut  TODAY (@TODAYshow) December 10, 2018 Heres who made the shortlist this year: Donald Trump: The tweet-happy U.S. president was named the 2016 Person of the Year when he was president-elect. Last year, when he also made the shortlist, Trump tweeted he had passed on the nominal title, though Time disagreed Separated families: Despite weathering the fallout of putting a crying Honduran child who had not been separated from her family on its magazine cover earlier this year, Time still selected migrant families at the U.S.-Mexico border as candidates for its Person of the Year, again highlighting the battle over immigration in the U.S. Vladimir Putin: The Russian president was named Person of the Year in 2007 and has continued to make headlines due to Russias alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election, and his relationship with Trump. Which brings us to ... Robert Mueller: The special counsel appointed by the Justice Department, who has been investigating allegations of Russian meddling in the election and Trumps ties to Russia, has become a foil to the bombastic leader. Though the investigation has ensnared Trumps former personal attorney Michael Cohen, his former campaign Chairman Paul Manafort and several others, Trump has repeatedly decried it as a witch hunt for evidence of collusion with Russia. Ryan Coogler: The Black Panther director and screenwriter turned a lesser-known superhero into a cultural phenomenon with his groundbreaking film, which became a critical darling and broke a bevy of box-office records while boasting a predominantly black cast. Christine Blasey Ford: The university professor who accused U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her when they were teenagers brought the nation to a standstill with her emotional testimony in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee in September, throwing Kavanaughs shoo-in appointment into question for weeks. Jamal Khashoggi: The Saudi journalist was killed soon after he entered the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, and his disappearance led to widespread criticism of the Arab nation, particularly Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is believed to have ordered Khashoggis murder. March for Our Lives activists: The teenagers who survived the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Fla., assembled to take on gun control and march on Washington, D.C., to speak out against gun violence. Moon Jae-in: The South Korean president, who helped host the Olympic Games this year, mounted a historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, officially bringing about an end to the war between the two countries. Meghan Markle: The Suits actress who hails from California became the Duchess of Sussex when she married Britains Prince Harry in May, offering a fairy-tale reprieve from pressing conflicts around the world. In October, the couple announced that they were expecting their first child, who would be seventh in line to the British throne. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Saturday Night Live finds DeNiros Robert Mueller in Eric Trumps closet Robert De Niro and Alex Moffat on Saturday Night Live this week. (NBC) After a week full of new revelations from the Robert Mueller investigation, it was probably no surprise that Robert De Niro got the call to reprise his role as the special counsel for this weeks Saturday Night Live, which was hosted by Jason Mamoa with the musical guest Mumford and Sons. With the always-on news cycle of 2018, the cold open is typically a feast-or-famine affair that benefits from standout, vaguely surreal moments  Kanye West in the White House, for example. With so much news this week surrounding the legal affairs of the presidents inner circle, SNL imagined the FBIs special counsel as the boogeyman in Eric Trumps closet. Dont be scared, its just me, De Niro assured him, your dads friend from work. Alex Moffat as a clueless Eric and Mikey Day as Don Jr. has been a solid pairing on Weekend Update, and they were natural choices given the news cycle. Still, the segment lacked the sort of standout snap that makes the cold open the usual talking point for the episode, apart from its closing exchange. People say youre the worst thing that happened to my dad, Moffats Eric Trump told De Niro. No, getting elected president was the worst thing to happen to your dad, he countered. Watch a clip below. "Its just me, Robert Mueller. Your dads friend from work." #SNL pic.twitter.com/xsLhnSg1oe  Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) December 9, 2018 Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Times Up congratulates Crazy Rich Asians star Constance Wu on Golden Globes nomination Constance Wu is nominated for her first Golden Globe award for Crazy Rich Asians (Warner Bros. ) Approaching the one-year anniversary of the movements birth, Times Up congratulated the women who earned 2019 Golden Globe nominations, including Crazy Rich Asians star and activist Constance Wu. We celebrate all of our sisters who were nominated for Golden Globe awards this year, including Constance Wu who became the first Asian woman to be nominated for best actress in more than 40 years, the organization said in a statement to The Times. (While few women of Asian descent been nominated for best actress in the awards 75-year history, Hailee Steinfeld, who is part Filipino, was nominated in 2017 for Edge of Seventeen.) As far as Asian Americans go, not Asian-Asians, there have been two others [in the comedy/musical category], Wu told The Times on Thursday morning, reacting to her nomination for Crazy Rich Asians, the first contemporary-set all-Asian studio film in 25 years. It is especially meaningful to receive a nomination for a leading role in an Asian American-centered story, Wu added. In its Globes nominations kudos, Times Up also called out the lack of female filmmakers among this years all-male directing nominees. We are thrilled to see some progress in the diversity of artists recognized, but, once again, the best director category lacks a single woman nominee, the statement read. The body of work directed by women this year deserves acknowledgement. The Times Up movement was first announced Jan. 1, unveiling an initiative to battle sexual harassment in industries including Hollywood, which included a legal defense fund to help underprivileged women. The movement called for supporters to wear all black to the glitzy 2018 Globes ceremony and speak out against harassment and gender inequality. As of Thursday, Wu was not yet sure if there will be a repeat of last years red carpet call to action or similar coordinated show of solidarity. I dont know if its going to be a clothing statement, but the solidarity and the sisterhood that we have is always there and is growing every day  so it will 100% be there at the Golden Globes, she said. Maybe not in terms of wardrobe, but in terms of passion? For sure. Read the full Times Up statement below: Statement from TIMES UP on the 2019 Golden Globe Nominations We celebrate all of our sisters who were nominated for Golden Globe awards this year, including Constance Wu who became the first Asian woman to be nominated for best actress in more than 40 years. We are thrilled to see some progress in the diversity of artists recognized, but once again the best director category lacks a single woman nominee. The body of work directed by women this year deserves acknowledgement. While we greatly admire the excellent work honored yesterday, we are also reminded of the vast imbalances that still exist across our industry and many other industries, and remain committed to our collective work. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Kevin Hart shouldnt have stepped down from Oscars gig, GLAAD chief says: He should have stepped up By Christie DZurilla Comedian Kevin Hart decided not to host Februarys Academy Awards. (Willy Sanjuan / Associated Press) GLAAD would rather Kevin Hart hadnt quit as Oscars host, with its leader expressing disappointment Friday morning on social media and on CNN. Kevin Hart shouldnt have stepped down; he should have stepped up, tweeted Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of the LGBTQ advocacy group. Harts apology to LGBTQ people is an important step forward, but he missed a real opportunity to use his platform and the Oscars stage to build unity and awareness. Ellis said the group would still welcome that conversation with the 39-year-old comic. Hart, who got the job only Tuesday, walked away Thursday night rather than cave to internet trolls for old anti-gay tweets that had resurfaced after he deleted them. He later did an about-face and offered an apology to those he had hurt, saying he was stepping down because he didnt want to distract from the awards themselves. We were hoping that this was going to turn into a teachable moment, Ellis told CNN on Friday morning. GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis on why she was hoping Kevin Hart wouldnt step down as Oscars host:



We were hoping that this was going to turn into a teachable moment  [and] to use the Oscar stage ... to help build unity and awareness. https://t.co/Kt5qT05hAA pic.twitter.com/PNijmSM2Vv  New Day (@NewDay) December 7, 2018 Ellis said Hart could have become an ally of the community if he had faced it, explained he had evolved and was willing to lead moving forward. It wasnt the conclusion that I think everybody would have liked, Ellis said. The academy has yet to respond to Harts public exit or announce a replacement host. (But we have some ideas about who should get the gig.) We would still welcome that conversation with him. The Academy has recently made significant strides in featuring diverse talent onstage and they should now double down on that commitment as they look for a new host.  Sarah Kate Ellis (@sarahkateellis) December 7, 2018 Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Marvel drops Avengers 4' trailer, reveals title By Los Angeles Times Staff Chris Evans as Captain America. (Marvel Studios) The end is near. Or more precisely, the endgame. On Friday, Marvel Studios unveiled the official first trailer for the latest Avengers film. The clip also confirmed the title for the project, Avengers: Endgame, and an April 26 release. Endgame picks up where the events of Avengers: Infinity War, released in April, left off. The beginning of the trailer focuses largely on Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) in solitude before moving the focus to Captain America (Chris Evans) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson). The new footage also shows the return of Jeremy Renners Hawkeye, who did not appear in Infinity War. He was last seen in Captain America: Civil War. Watch the trailer below. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Justin Timberlake postpones Man of the Woods tour, citing bruised vocal cords By Nardine Saad Justin Timberlake. (Amy Harris / Invision/Associated Press) Justin Timberlake is sorry that the remainder of his Man of the Woods tour has now been postponed to next year while the singer recovers from bruised vocal cords, a problem that has dogged him since October. My vocal cords are healing but they are not all the way back to normal yet, so my doctors want me to continue to rest my voice, the 37-year-old wrote on Instagram Wednesday night. That means hell hold off on singing until next month. Im really sorry, Timberlake wrote. I want to be back on the stage and I am doing all I can to get there quickly. Live Nation, the producer of the tour, confirmed on Thursday that the tour would resume in January, and tickets for the originally scheduled shows will be honored at the 2019 events. Timberlake, whose tour accompanies his folksy fifth studio album, Man of the Woods, first canceled his Madison Square Garden show in New York in late October and had since postponed a slew of dates. (Though that didnt derail his silent interview on The Tonight Show to promote his memoir Hindsight shortly after.) The North American tour will now resume in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 4, according to Live Nation. Timberlakes Los Angeles stop at the Staples Center  originally set for Nov. 27  is now slated for March 10, Live Nation said. Hes also been rescheduled to play the Honda Center in Anaheim on Feb. 22. Additional appearances in Phoenix, Las Vegas, Fresno and Oakland have also been pushed back to March, and tickets for the previously scheduled concerts are valid at the respective new dates in each city. Refunds are also available at point of purchase. (A full list of the rescheduled shows can be seen here.) Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Faye Dunaway returning to Broadway to play Katharine Hepburn in Tea at Five By Nardine Saad (Lionel Cironneau / Associated Press) Oscar winner Faye Dunaway is returning to Broadway to play four-time Oscar winner Katharine Hepburn. The Bonnie and Clyde star will embody the legendary actress with a devil-may-care personality in Matthew Lombardos Tea at Five, marking the shows Broadway debut and Dunaways return to the Great White Way after 35 years, producer Ben Feldman said in a statement on Thursday. Lombardo has created a new version of the one-woman-show, which took audiences to 1938 as Hepburn awaited word on the final casting for the role of Scarlett OHara to 1983, where they witness the sunset of her health and career. The new show will be directed by Tony Award nominee John Tillinger and will have a limited engagement in summer 2019. Additional information, including the complete creative team, dates and theater, will be announced early next year. Dunaway made her Broadway debut in 1961 with A Man for All Seasons and followed it up with appearances in After the Fall and The Changeling. However, her breakthrough happened off-Broadway when she appeared in Hogans Goat, which led to her casting in 1967s Bonnie and Clyde. (She later earned her Academy Award for the 1976 drama Network.) The 77-year-old actress last appeared on Broadway in 1982 in the original play The Curse of an Aching Heart. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Father John Misty rallies musician friends for wildfire benefit concert Father John Misty announced that he will host a benefit concert for victims of Californias recent wildfires. (Suzanne Cordeiro / AFP/Getty Images) Father John Misty, the singer, songwriter and occasional Chateau Marmont pianist, announced Thursday morning the California Wildfire Benefit Concert, an evening of music to benefit victims of the recent fires. Misty, the stage name of Josh Tillman, is teaming up with Los Angeles-based concert promoter Goldenvoice and has scrolled through his contacts for a coterie of special guests, including Haim, Mac DeMarco, Lucius, Tim Heidecker, Rostam, Jonathan Wilson, Rivers Cuomo and Weyes Blood, among others. Set for Dec. 18 at the Theatre at Ace Hotel in L.A., the night promises to be an intimate affair: an all-acoustic session of songs from some of the areas most accomplished songwriters, with a Steinway & Sons-donated piano to add some class. The benefit is the latest to raise money for those affected by the devastating fires. Over the weekend, Katy Perry, Gwen Stefani and Robin Thicke raised a reported $1 million as part of the One Love Malibu Benefit Concert. Last week, garage rocker Ty Segall and friends took over Zebulon in Frogtown to make money for those in need. Proceeds from Tillman & Co.s event will go to the Southern California Disaster Relief Fund, created by the United Way of Greater Los Angeles in partnership with United Way of Ventura County. In a statement Thursday morning, organizers explained that the fund is directed at low-income families whose lives and livelihoods are affected by the current wildfires in Southern California. Specifically, the fund focuses on longer-term support to help individuals and families in need to rebuild their lives. Bonus opportunity: Fans will be able to bid on front-row tickets to the concert through CharityBuzz. The high-bidder will also get a commemorative poster signed by participating artists and a room at the Ace Hotel. Tickets for the all-ages concert range from $59.50-$199.50 and go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. Pacific. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

A Star Is Born: Peter Buck turns 62 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Joe Pugliese / Los Angeles Times) Everyone I know has enough bad times and struggles in their lives to draw upon for a lifetime. Peter Buck, 1996 FROM THE ARCHIVES: The Lowdown on Hi-Fi Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg to co-host 2019 Golden Globes By Nardine Saad Andy Samberg, left, and Sandra Oh will co-host the 2019 Golden Globes. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times; Micha Theiner / Los Angeles Times) Killing Eve will meet Brooklyn Nine-Nine at the 76th Golden Globe Awards next month now that Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg have been announced as co-hosts of the annual show. They bring wit, charm and style to a room filled with the very best of film and television. Its sure to be another unforgettable fun-filled night, said NBC co-chairmen Paul Telegdy and George Cheeks in a statement on Wednesday. The party-like ceremony, hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. at the Beverly Hilton hotel, will honor the best in film and television and marks the official kickoff of the 2019 awards-show season. The three-hour telecast will air live, coast to coast, on NBC on Jan. 6 at 5 p.m. Pacific time. Golden Globes nominations preview: 5 things to watch for, including Mary Poppins Returns vs. Roma  The nominees will be announced early Thursday across 25 categories  14 in film and 11 in television  and the winners are voted on by members of the HFPA. Were excited to welcome Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg as co-hosts of Hollywoods Party of the Year, said HFPA President Meher Tatna in a statement. Both Golden Globe Award recipients have continually showcased their talents in film and television, and we cant wait see what their undeniable chemistry will bring to the Golden Globes stage. Oh, who famously starred as Dr. Cristina Yang on ABCs Greys Anatomy, won a 2006 Golden Globe for performance by an actress in a supporting role in a series, limited series or motion picture made for television; a Screen Actors Guild Award for the role and five Emmy nominations for supporting actress in a drama. Her role as an MI5 officer hunting down a female assassin on BBC Americas Killing Eve earned her another Emmy nomination earlier this year. As for Samberg, the Saturday Night Live alum won two Golden Globes in 2014 for his work on the cop comedy Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which recently landed at NBC after being canceled on Fox. It wont be the first time for him to host a major awards show either: The comedian previously emceed the Primetime Emmy Awards as well as the Film Independent Spirit Awards. The duo take over hosting duties from recent hosts Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, and Ricky Gervais. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Natalie Portman apologizes to Jessica Simpson for bikini-shaming her By Nardine Saad Actress Natalie Portman, left, in a recent interview alluded to a bikini photo of Jessica Simpson. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times, left; Evan Agostini / Invision/Associated Press, right)) Oscar winner Natalie Portman hears you, Jessica Simpson, and agrees that women should dress and behave however they like without judgment. Thats a different tune than the one Portman appeared to sing in a USA Today profile published on Tuesday  one that prompted a lengthy statement from Simpson calling out Portman for shaming her, particularly amid the Times Up era that Portman helped usher in. Portman plays a pop star in the upcoming film Vox Lux, which explores the underbelly of the music industry, and in discussing the topic, she lauded Madonna but appeared to throw shade at Simpson and the industry that touted the virgin/vixen paradigms around the millennium. I remember being a teenager, and there was Jessica Simpson on the cover of a magazine saying Im a virgin while wearing a bikini, and I was confused. Like, I dont know what this is trying to tell me as a woman, as a girl, Portman, 37, told the publication. Simpson. 38, read those words Wednesday morning and, in a missive posted on Instagram and Twitter, said she was disappointed, but did not indicate what magazine cover Portman was referring to. As public figures, we both know our image is not totally in our control at all times, and that the industry we work in often tries to define us and box us in, the fashion designer wrote. However, I was taught to be myself and honor the different ways all women express themselves, which is why I believed then  and I believe now  that being sexy in a bikini and being proud of my body are not synonymous with having sex, Simpson added. Simpson, who made no secret of losing her virginity after she wed 98 Degrees singer Nick Lachey in 2002, had said that shes always embraced being a role model to women by letting them know they can look and wear whatever they want and choose to have or not have sex whenever they want. The power lies within us as individuals, Simpson wrote. Addressing Simpson directly (and publicly) in the comments section of the post, Portman thanked her and said she she completely agrees with her. I only meant to say I was confused  as a girl coming of age in the public eye around the same time  by the medias mixed messages about how girls and women were supposed to behave, Portman wrote. The actress said she didnt mean to shame Simpson and is sorry for any hurt her words might have caused. I have nothing but respect for your talent and your voice that you use to encourage and empower women all over the globe, Portman said. UPDATE 2:21 p.m.: This story was updated with Portmans apology. This story was originally published at 11:52 a.m. pic.twitter.com/zBLuyF3a8p  Jessica Simpson (@JessicaSimpson) December 5, 2018 Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Surviving R. Kelly screening evacuated after anonymous threats By Christie DZurilla Singer R. Kelly. (Noam Galai / Getty Images) Phoned-in threats cleared the house at a screening of the Surviving R. Kelly documentary Tuesday night in New York City, leaving the singers ex-wife Drea Kelly more fired up than deterred. [S]everal anonymous threats were called in, Lifetime said in a statement to The Times. As a precaution, the network elected to evacuate the building. The incident was investigated and concern about a gunman in the house was determined to be unfounded, a New York Police Department spokeswoman told The Times. The R&B singer has been accused of abusive and controlling behavior toward women, especially younger ones, allegations R. Kelly has denied. Those allegations are detailed in the three-part documentary series. Tuesdays screening was attended by alleged victims Jerhonda Pace, Kitti Jones, Assante McGee, Lisa Van Allen and Lizzette Martinez, in addition to Drea Kelly. Also there were #MeToo activist Tarana Burke, radio host Angela Yee and former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson. Burke and Yee were to have been part of a panel with Lifetime executive producer Brie Miranda Bryant. They thought they were putting us out; they just put gasoline on a fire and now were just gonna burn longer and stronger. You actually helped us when it was meant to harm us [because] this did nothing but unite us even more, Drea Kelly told Rolling Stone. The incident lets me know were on the right track. Were causing people to listen. Were getting peoples attention and were getting attention from the one who thought that he was invincible and untouchable, she said. Surviving R. Kelly airs Jan. 3-5 on Lifetime. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Cardi B announces split from Offset a year after they wed By Nardine Saad Offset, left, and Cardi B arrive at the American Music Awards in October. (Jordan Strauss / Invision / Associated Press) A little more than a year after they secretly wed, rappers Cardi B and Offset have split, according to Cardi B, who announced the break-up in an Instagram video on Tuesday night. Things just havent been working out between us for a long time. And its nobodys fault, its just like I guess, we grew out of love, the Okurr-trilling, I Like It rapper said. Were not together anymore. It might take time to get a divorce, but Im always gonna have a lot of love for him because he is my daughters father, she added. Cardi and Offset, a member of the rap trio Migos, secretly wed in Georgia in September 2017 before the arrival of their daughter, Kulture, whos now nearly 5 months old. Cardi, 26, real name Belcalis Marlenis Almanzar, said that they remain good friends and business partners who got a lot of love for each other. Offset, also 26, real name Kiari Kendrall Cephus, very publicly proposed to the Bodak Yellow MC in October and the two often discussed their plans for a blowout celebration. Then news of their actual marriage  and marriage certificate  leaked in June and the two welcomed their baby girl in July. Reps for Cardi and Offset did not immediately respond to additional requests for comment. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Kevin Hart to host the 2019 Academy Awards Kevin Hart will be hosting the Oscars next year. (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) Stepping into what is often considered one of the most difficult  and at times thankless  gigs in Hollywood, Kevin Hart is set to host the 91st Academy Awards. The stand-up comedian and actor made the announcement himself Tuesday on Instagram, promising, I will be sure to make this years Oscars a special one. For years I have been asked if I would ever Host the Oscars and my answer was always the same, Hart wrote. I said that it would be the opportunity of a lifetime for me as a comedian and that it will happen when its suppose to. In tapping Hart, who has starred in box-office hits like Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and Central Intelligence and who boasts a massive social media following and large base of young fans, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is hoping to stem a steady decline in ratings for the telecast. In each of the past two years, under host Jimmy Kimmel, the ratings dipped, with Marchs show reaching a record-low audience of 26.5 million viewers. Facing perennial criticism over what many have decried as the sometimes tedious length of the Oscars, the academy has vowed that this coming years show, which is being produced by Donna Gigliotti and Glenn Weiss, will not run over three hours. To trim the proceedings down, some awards will be given out during commercial breaks rather than live on air. In an ultimately fizzled gambit to bring in a wider audience for the all-important telecast, the academy earlier this year announced the creation of a new award recognizing outstanding achievement in popular film. But after weeks of blowback, the academys board of governors reversed itself and decided to shelve the idea, at least for the time being. Hart has previously served as emcee of the MTV Movie Awards along with his Central Intelligence co-star Dwayne Johnson. The Oscars will air on ABC on Sunday, Feb. 24. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

2018 AFI Awards honorees include Black Panther, Atlanta, Roma and The Americans By Sonaiya Kelley Viggo Mortensen, left, and Mahershala Ali star in Green Book, which is among the AFIs top 10 films of the year. (Universal Pictures / Asssociated Press) The American Film Institute announced 10 films and 10 television shows as honorees of the 2018 AFI Awards this morning. BlacKkKlansman, Black Panther, Eighth Grade, If Beale Street Could Talk, The Favorite, First Reformed, Green Book, Mary Poppins Returns, A Quiet Place, and A Star Is Born were recognized as culturally and artistically significant films by the institute. Netflixs Roma, a Spanish-language film not eligible for the main list, was also recognized with an AFI Special Award which honors films outside the Institutes criteria for American film. On the television side, FXs The Americans, The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, Atlanta and Pose, HBOs Barry and Succession, AMCs Better Call Saul, Netflixs The Kominsky Method, Amazon Primes The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and NBCs This Is Us were all recognized. The AFI Awards will be presented at an annual private luncheon on Jan. 4, 2019, in Los Angeles. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Terry Crews, Danai Gurira, Leslie Mann and Christian Slater to announce Golden Globe nominees Terry Crews, left, Danai Gurira, Leslie Mann and Christian Slater will announce the Golden Globe nominees on Thursday morning. (Ricardo DeAratanha, left, Carolyn Cole, Michael Nagle, Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) There are four Hollywood stars who are guaranteed to be awake bright and early for this years Golden Globe Awards announcement, regardless of whether they have a nomination in the offing. Terry Crews, Danai Gurira, Leslie Mann and Christian Slater have been tasked with presenting the Golden Globe nominees at Thursdays annual news conference, the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. announced Tuesday. The HFPA also said a major announcement regarding the Golden Globes schedule would be made prior to this years nominees. Joining Crews, Gurira, Mann and Slater will be newly minted Golden Globe Ambassador Isan Elba (also the daughter of actor Idris Elba), HFPA President Meher Tetna and Golden Globe executive producer Barry Adelman. The Golden Globe nominations announcement will take place on Thursday at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills. Live-stream coverage of the event begins at 5:05 a.m., with the first categories announced at 5:15 a.m. and a second and final group of categories revealed shortly thereafter. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

SNL star Pete Davidson says he wont give in to online bullying; Ariana Grande chimes in By Christie DZurilla Pete Davidson (Angela Weiss / AFP/Getty Images) Pete Davidson says no matter what you do to him, hes not going to kill himself. Wait, what? Yes, exactly what you just read. Online trolls cant bully him to death, he says. And he wonders why theyre getting away with such abusive behavior. Ive been getting online bullied and in public by people for 9 months. Ive spoken about BPD and being suicidal publicly only in the hopes that it will help bring awareness and help kids like myself who dont want to be on this earth, the Saturday Night Live actor said bluntly Monday on Instagram. I just want you guys to know. No matter how hard the internet or anyone tries to make me kill myself. I wont. The Saturday Night Live actor, who has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, was presumably referring to his break from pop star Ariana Grande. The two met in March and became an item toward the end of May, got engaged just weeks into the relationship and then split up in October. She has got around 137 million Instagram followers, some of whom have apparently been talking to  or at  Davidson online. He has no verified Twitter or Facebook accounts. He said he has kept his mouth shut about the online bullying to this point and hasnt mentioned any names  nor does he drop any names in the post. Im trying to understand how when something happens to a guy the whole entire world just trashes him without any facts or frame of reference, Davidson wrote. Especially in todays climate where everyone loves to be offended and upset it truly is mind boggling. Pete Davidson just posted a touching note about mental health to his Instagram pic.twitter.com/nAudS7NdmU  Alexis Benveniste (@apbenven) December 3, 2018 Davidsons missive comes on the heels of the new video for Grandes hit song thank u, next, whose title echoes a Twitter comment involving the actor. The singer put Davidsons statement and a comment of her own on her Instagram story around midnight, urging her many fans to change their behavior. [I] really dont endorse anything but forgiveness and positivity. i care deeply about pete and his health. im asking you to please be gentler with others, even on the internet, Grande said, in part. Later in the statement, she got a bit more specific. [P]lease let whatever point youre trying to make go. I will always have irrevocable love for him and if youve gotten any other impression from my recent work, you might have missed the point, she said. Heres Grandes statement in full: i know u already know this but i feel i need to remind my fans to please be gentler with others. i really dont endorse anything but forgiveness and positivity. i care deeply about pete and his health. im asking you to please be gentler with others, even on the internet. ive learned thru my own mistakes not to be reactive on socials so i do understand. but you truly dont know what anybody is experiencing ever. regardless of what they choose to display on social media or how they may appear in public. i can promise u that. so please let whatever point youre trying to make go. I will always have irrevocable love for him and if youve gotten any other impression from my recent work, you might have missed the point. Borderline personality disorder is marked by an ongoing pattern of varying moods, self-image and behavior, according to the National Institute of Mental Health website. Symptoms can often result in impulsive actions and relationship problems, with people experiencing intense episodes of anger, depression and anxiety that last for hours or days. People with BPD tend to experience things as all good or all bad, and according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the risk of self-harming behavior or suicide is an extreme risk. UPDATE Dec. 4, 10:18 a.m.: This post was updated with the statement from Grande. This post was originally published on Dec. 3 at 12:37 p.m. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Kanye West apologizes after being called out for his behavior at The Cher Show By Christie DZurilla Kanye West and Kim Kardashian West at the opening night of The Cher Show on Monday. (Evan Agostini / Associated Press) Kanye West really, really liked The Cher Shows opening night on Broadway. But at least one performer couldnt tell, cause Ye apparently was messing with his phone the whole time. Hey @kanyewest so cool that youre here at @TheCherShow!, cast member Jarrod Spector tweeted at the rapper shortly after things got rolling on Monday night. If you look up from your cell phone youll see were doing a show up here. Its opening night. Kind of a big deal for us. Thanks so much. West might as well have taken a flash photograph  he was so busted. Hey @kanyewest so cool that youre here at @TheCherShow! If you look up from your cell phone youll see were doing a show up here. Its opening night. Kind of a big deal for us. Thanks so much.  Jarrod Spector (@jarrodspector) December 4, 2018 West must actually read his mentions  at least the ones that blow up  because he replied with an apology a few hours later. And he apparently really did dig the show. The dynamics of Cher and Sonnys relationship made Kim and I grab each others hand and sing I got you babe, he wrote. Please pardon my lack of etiquette. We have so much appreciation for the energy you guys put into making this master piece. the dynamics of Cher and Sonnys relationship made Kim and I grab each others hand and sing I got you babe

please pardon my lack of etiquette. We have so much appreciation for the energy you guys put into making this master piece.  ye (@kanyewest) December 4, 2018 But West might not have behaved as awful as all that. A Kanye source told TMZ that the rapper loved the show so much he was actually taking notes on his phone. Still rude, but at least he didnt tweet that apology halfway through the show. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Red Bull Music Festival sets 2019 lineup, including Red Dead Redemption 2' live gig Swae Lee of Rae Sremmurd in October. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times ) Liquid adrenaline manufacturer Red Bull has announced the lineup for the 2019 Red Bull Music Festival Los Angeles, which will focus nearly as much on sight as on sound. Most notably, the multi-event program will feature the first live performance of music from the blockbuster action-adventure game Red Dead Redemption 2. It will be the centerpiece of a festival that aims to explore how music intersects with gaming, film and photography. Attendees will experience live Red Dead Redemption 2 performances by composer Woody Jackson, Indonesian duo Senyawa and others featured in the game in whats billed as a reimagining of the score as a unique auditory installation. The festival, happening at various locations across multiple February dates, will also present the first U.S. stops on Swedish pop powerhouse Robyns upcoming North American tour. Hitting the States to promote her new album, Honey, Robyn will perform her first Los Angeles shows in eight years on Feb. 22 and 23 at the Hollywood Palladium. The festivals Feb. 7 opening event will aim a much-deserved spotlight on the performer San Cha. Shell be introducing a new original piece, according the notes, based around the telenovela programs of her childhood, and will feature artists from a range of L.A.s creative disciplines. On Valentines Day, the Tupelo, Miss., rap team Rae Sremmurd will host an event described in release notes as an eclectic show inspired by the golden age of Hollywood. Along with surprise guests, hosts Slim Jxmmi and Swae Lee will marry their hits with covers of iconic love songs of past and present, putting a contemporary slant on classic silver screen romance. The party will take place at the Reserve, which is in a historic bank vault in downtown Los Angeles. On Feb. 16, the skate, film and art collective Illegal Civilization will take over the Pink Motel in Sun Valley  most visible these days as a setting in the Netflix show GLOW  for a daylong installment called Illegal Civ Movie Motel. The group is headed by Mikey Alfred, best known for his work with Jonah Hill on Mid90s, and Alfred and his peers will entangle skating, film screenings and a swap meet with music performances by affiliates including Show Me the Body, Tierra Whack and Tommy Genesis. Throughout February the festival will take over the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Koreatown to present Center Channel, a film series with a mission to explore the most compelling intersections of sound and film. In conjunction with Los Angeles curators and tastemakers, programmers have scheduled not-yet-announced premieres, screenings, panels and live performances. Tickets for all events go on sale Wednesday at noon. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

New Captain Marvel trailer teases Carol Danvers backstory and cosmic fights By Tracy Brown The new trailer for Captain Marvel features a little something for everyone: additional details about the story, fight scenes in outer space and a cute cat. The second trailer for the Marvel Studios film debuted Monday night, and it sends a clear message that Carol Danvers, a.k.a. Captain Marvel, is the hero everyone has been waiting for. At least according to Disney. While the first trailer hinted that Carol (played by Brie Larson) is trying to piece together what seems to be her forgotten past on Earth, this new promo provides more information about who she has become. Carol explains to Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) that she is Kree, an alien race of noble warrior heroes. But then the trailer immediately reveals that wasnt always the case. It turns out that after somehow stumbling upon an injured and memory-less Carol, the Kree turned her into one of them. This gave her enhanced strength, a prolonged lifespan and various other superpowers. And these powers appear to be no joke. The trailer shows Captain Marvel handle everything from hand-to-hand combat against what appears to be an elderly woman (but is likely an enemy in disguise) to flying around in space while taking out spaceships with energy blasts she shoots from her hands. Looks like there is definitely hope for the remaining Avengers to save the universe following the events of Avengers: Infinity War after all. Captain Marvel is scheduled to hit theaters March 8, 2019. Check out the new poster and tune-in to @ESPNs Monday Night Football to see the brand new trailer for Marvel Studios #CaptainMarvel. pic.twitter.com/43EPkcTBET  Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) December 3, 2018 Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Queen announces Rhapsody Tour with Adam Lambert By Christie DZurilla Brian May, left, and Adam Lambert perform at the Forum in 2014. (Barbara Davidson / Los Angeles Times) Bolstered by the success of the new biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen is going back on tour in North America next summer. And Adam Lambert will take the mic once again in place of the late Freddie Mercury, the band announced Monday. The Rhapsody Tour will take place from mid-July to late August 2019 and feature (in the bands words) 23 giant shows. Theyll play the Forum in Inglewood on July 19. Tickets go on sale Friday, with pre-sale codes sent to fan club members and QueenOnline.com subscribers on Tuesday. The soaring success of Bohemian Rhapsody  the Freddie Mercury/Queen movie that is set to become the biggest-grossing music biopic of all time  has proven that the publics love for Queen remains as strong as ever, the band said in a release. We are ready for America and raring to get back in the saddle, drummer Roger Taylor said in the statement, with lead guitarist Brian May adding: This is a great opportunity. Our last tour featured our most ambitious production ever and got us our best notices ever. So we decided to rip it apart and get even more ambitious! Lambert has been touring with the band since 2012 after sharing the stage with them during the 2009 American Idol finale. Completing the tour lineup are longtime collaborator Spike Edney on keyboards, Neil Fairclough on bass and Tyler Warren on percussion. See the full list of dates here. Were excited to announce Queen + @adamlambert will be debuting the brand new Rhapsody touring show across 23 North America dates July-August 2019. Read all the details here:https://t.co/rBI0jbxQRb



Photographer: Bojan Hohnjec

 Miracle Productions LLP pic.twitter.com/s0LTa128Ey  Queen (@QueenWillRock) December 3, 2018 Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Halsey calls out Victorias Secret Fashion Show over trans exclusion By Christie DZurilla Halsey, left, performed at the 2018 Victorias Secret Fashion Show, recorded last month. (Timothy A. Clary / AFP/Getty Images) Halsey, who performed at the 2018 Victorias Secret Fashion Show that aired Sunday night on ABC, posted a lengthy note on social media at the same time regarding the shows perceived lack of trans inclusivity. I have adored the Victorias Secret Fashion Show since I was young. Performing this year alongside other amazing artists, and hardworking models/friends was supposed to be the best night of my year. However, after I filmed the performance some comments were made regarding the show that I simply cannot ignore, she wrote. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I have no tolerance for a lack of inclusivity. Especially not one motivated by stereotype, continued the 24-year-old singer, who is out as bisexual. She then directed followers to the GLSEN website and said she had made a big donation to the organization, which champions LGBTQ issues in K-12 education. The show featured 49 female models of various races and skin colors from at least 14 countries and six continents. However, a comment from a Victorias Secret executive in a Nov. 8 Vogue article  which ran the same day the show was taped  upset some transgender people and their allies, and appears to have sparked Halseys post. There was also discussion in the article about the absence of plus-size models on the VS catwalk. Its like, why doesnt your show do this? Shouldnt you have transsexuals in the show? No. No, I dont think we should, Ed Razek, chief marketing officer for Victorias Secret owner, L Brands, told the magazine. Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy. Its a 42-minute entertainment special. Thats what it is. It is the only one of its kind in the world, and any other fashion brand in the world would take it in a minute, including the competitors that are carping at us. And they carp at us because were the leader.  @GLSEN - https://t.co/XdQMPro0KC pic.twitter.com/agOzSYREkX  h (@halsey) December 3, 2018 Victorias Secret did not respond immediately to a request for comment. The quote was in the context of a larger discussion about criticism of the show on social media, which had ramped up ahead of the show. Halsey, for one, wasnt having it. If you are a trans person reading this, and these comments have made you feel alienated or invalidated please know that you have allies. We stand in solidarity, and complete and total acceptance is the only fantasy that I support, she said in her Sunday post. Also performing at the fashion show were Shawn Mendes, Rita Ora, the Chainsmokers, Bebe Rexha, Leela James, Kelsea Ballerini, and the Struts, most of whom posted generic social-media reminders to watch the show. None of them talked about trans exclusion. Rexha, however, had a bit more to say, and added a video of her performance Monday on Twitter so followers could see it  in some cases, again. It has always been a big dream of mine to perform at @victoriassecret Fashion Show and its finally happening tomorrow!! So dont you miss it!!!, she posted Saturday on Instagram. Watch me strutting my curvy ass body unapologetically down that runway.  I cant believe this happened. Dream come true. https://t.co/lHJMfI7OhM  Bebe Rexha (@BebeRexha) December 3, 2018 Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Kennedy Center Honors celebrate Cher, Wayne Shorter, Reba McEntire and Philip Glass  plus the creators of Hamilton By Christie DZurilla Wayne Shorter, front left, Cher, Reba McEntire, Philip Glass; back, Thomas Kail, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Andy Blankenbuehler, Alex Lacamoire. (Greg Allen / Associated Press) The Kennedy Center Honors, which once again were not attended by President Trump, included tributes Sunday night to the late former President George H.W. Bush, who died Friday at age 94. I think its appropriate to recognize the passing of a wonderful man who dedicated his life to service and who graciously attended this event many times during his administration, laughing, applauding, singing along and even shedding a tear from right up there in the presidential box, host Gloria Estefan said to kick off the evening at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington. She recalled being invited to the White House and how Bush literally spent 45 minutes patiently talking to my 8-year-old son about how government worked. Estefan was recognized last year; this year, the lifetime artistic-achievement honors went to jazz great Wayne Shorter, pop diva Cher, country star Reba McEntire and composer Philip Glass, with a unique award of distinction going to the team behind Hamilton: Andrew Blankenbuehler, Thomas Kail, Alex Lacamoire and star Lin-Manuel Miranda. Their names, like the other nominees, were first announced this summer. In recognizing Hamilton and its co-creators, Kennedy Center President Deborah F. Rutter said in a statement at the time, the Kennedy Center is making an unprecedented statement about an unprecedented work  a work that transcends cultural boundaries and tells Americas story in a powerful and contemporary way. On Sunday, comic Whoopi Goldberg introduced Cher and friend Cyndi Lauper sang If I Could Turn Back Time. Kelly Clarkson paid tribute to McEntire with a version of Fancy, the Bobbie Gentry song McEntire turned into a hit in 1990. Jason Moran, the Kennedy Centers artistic director for jazz, said Shorters sound over a six-decade career holds a special place in the galaxy, adding that he could safely say that somewhere in the galaxy right now, a band is playing one of his pieces. And previous award winner Paul Simon did the honors for Glass, whom he praised for never settling into one particular style, always developing and exploring. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, who also missed last years event after several honorees threatened a boycott, returned in the wee hours Sunday from the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires. Though Bush attended most years and continued to do so after his presidency, he  like other heads of state, including Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton  missed a year due to major events. Trump is the first president to decline an invitation twice. You can watch the Kennedy Center Honors when they are broadcast on CBS on Dec. 26. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Grammy Awards nominations delayed over Bushs memorial services By Christie DZurilla (Julio Cortez / Associated Press) The Recording Academy said Monday morning it would delay its announcement of the 61st Grammy Award nominees to avoid competing with memorial services and public viewings for former President George H. W. Bush, who died Friday. The organization had planned to announce nominees early Wednesday morning but will now share nominees in select categories on Friday at 5:30 a.m. PST via CBS This Morning and Apple Music. A full nominations list across 84 categories will follow at 5:45 a.m. PST on Friday at Grammy.com  the academys website  as well as all of its social-media platforms. Nominations cover recordings released between Oct. 1, 2017, and Sept. 30, 2018. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

A Star Is Born: Lucy Liu turns 50 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) For me, I want to be the best person for the job  not the best color for the job. That to me would be the most ideal thing. Lucy Liu, 2006 FROM THE ARCHIVES: Versatility in action Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Alec Baldwin, Ben Stiller open a Saturday Night Live that features a Kendrick cameo and a Robert Mueller holiday jingle Alec Baldwin and Ben Stiller open the Dec. 1 episode of Saturday Night Live. (NBC) After a few weeks off for some legal trouble involving a parking dispute, Alec Baldwin was back in the pursed-lip saddle as President Donald Trump this week on Saturday Night Live. Playing off the G20 summit in Argentina and recent revelations surrounding the Russia investigation, SNL found Baldwins Trump isolated and calling his Mikey Coco Puffs in attorney Michael Cohen, who was again played by Ben Stiller. Nostalgic for the late-night talks with Cohen and vacations to Moscow, the sketch found Trump sad to see his lawyer going to prison, and told him he was like a son to me. Then whyd you make me do such much illegal stuff? Stillers Cohen asked. Thats cause you were like a son to me, Baldwins Trump countered. The sketch went on to nod toward Baldwins troubles as Trump hung up and Baldwin said he hadnt been so mad since he flipped out over that parking space. Fred Armisen also appeared in the sketch as Saudi Arabias Mohammed bin Salman, Cecily Strong as Melania Trump and Kate McKinnon as a wild-eyed Rudy Giuliani. The Russia investigation received another callback at the end of the episode with McKinnon and Strong joined by Aidy Bryant, Leslie Jones, Melissa Villasenor, Heidi Gardner, and newest cast member Ego Nwodim for a performance of All I Want for Christmas Is You dedicated to Robert Mueller in the hopes of an indictment for the president. All they want for Christmas is you, Mueller  #SNL pic.twitter.com/bYtpwM0moN  Saturday Night Live (@nbcsnl) December 2, 2018 Still, thats unlikely to be the nights most talked about musical moment. Those honors likely go to Oxnard native Anderson .Paak, whose third album (which is named after his hometown) was released in November. .Paak performed Who R U along with his single Tints, which featured an assist from Kendrick Lamar, who performed a few verses next to .Paaks drum riser. It wasnt a recast of a Christmas song, but it made a strong impression nonetheless. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Miley Cyrus and Mark Ronson make beautiful music together on Nothing Breaks Like a Heart Miley Cyrus brings the bling in the video for Nothing Breaks Like a Heart, a new collaboration with Mark Ronson. (Vevo) Its been a minute since Miley Cyrus released new music, but much like Los Angeles, the drought is over. Cyrus, in collaboration with British DJ and producer Mark Ronson, released Nothing Breaks Like a Heart on Thursday, the first single from Ronsons upcoming album, his first solo effort since 2015. Its the first new music from Cyrus in more than a year. Cyrus brings her huskiest growl to the tale of love gone wrong, singing, This world can hurt you, it cuts you deep and leaves a scar / Things fall apart, but nothing breaks like a heart. The accompanying video features Cyrus in a low-speed chase with a bevy of cop cars, smashing through walls as if she were a wrecking ball  or the Kool-Aid Man. In the world outside, cultural references play out in disconnected fashion, as football players kneel and children visit a gun range, all while Cyrus looks on. Also, she goes to a strip club, so watch the video at your own risk. However, the video does end with a stunning sequence of a car wreck that features Cyrus still inside the vehicle singing, as gold and glass float through the air around her, in what appears to be an obvious homage to Julie Taymors gold dust bus crash in 2002s Frida. The video is worth watching for those stylish seconds alone. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Hugh Jackman is hitting the road  and the Hollywood Bowl  with 2019 world tour Hugh Jackman starred in The Greatest Showman last year and is now taking to the stage to see if he can match the hype. The Logan actor appeared on Today on Thursday to announce his 2019 world tour, The Man. The Music. The Show. The tour will feature Jackman performing hits from The Greatest Showman, Les Miserables and other stage and screen roles. Im on the back nine of my life right now, Jackman said on Today, explaining the impetus for the show, and this is about the best parts of the front nine. The tour launches with a 12-date European leg in May, beginning in Hamburg, Germany, and concluding with two shows in London. The U.S. tour begins June 18 in Houston and wraps up with two shows at the Hollywood Bowl on July 19 and 20. Fans of comic-book culture will notice that those Los Angeles dates coincide with San Diego Comic-Con, leaving Jackman either plenty of time for a jaunt south for a guest appearance at SDCC or a built-in excuse for the Wolverine actor to skip out altogether. Tickets for a handful of Jackmans tour dates go on sale Dec. 7 at 9 a.m. PST on HughJackmanTheShow.com. Tickets for the Hollywood Bowl appearances do not yet have an announced sale date. pic.twitter.com/iO5NLSDE8G  Hugh Jackman (@RealHughJackman) November 29, 2018 Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Quentin Tarantino marries singer-model Daniella Pick in L.A. By Christie DZurilla Quentin Tarantino and Daniella Pick in 2016. (Jean-Philippe Ksiazek / AFP/Getty Images) Once upon a time in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino married Daniella Pick, the Israeli singer-model hes been engaged to since last year. The two tied the knot in Los Angeles in an intimate ceremony, People reported exclusively Wednesday, ahead of a larger gathering that was planned for that night. Tarantino, 55, and Pick, 35, met in 2009 when he visited Israel to promote Inglourious Basterds, but they had been dating steadily only for about a year when he popped the question in summer 2017. Theyd been on and off before that. Its a first marriage for the director, who explained his take on marriage to GQ in 2009. When Im doing a movie, Im not doing anything else. Its all about the movie, he said. I dont have a wife. I dont have a kid. Nothing can get in my way.  Im not saying that Ill never get married or have a kid before Im 60. But Ive made a choice, so far, to go on this road alone. Because this is my time. This is my time to make movies. Tarantino said at a conference in 2016 that he was going to retire after he had directed 10 movies. His Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is in post-production now, while an untitled Star Trek project looms. That latter one would be his 10th full-length effort. Just Married! Congrats Quentin Tarantino & Daniela Pick!

 Curtis Dahl / @people pic.twitter.com/uFBk94kvyS  Quentin Tarantino Fan Club (@TarantinoFC) November 29, 2018 Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

SpongeBob fan lobbies for Empire State Building to glow yellow to honor Stephen Hillenburg By Christie DZurilla A SpongeBob SquarePants balloon floats over Central Park West last week during the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. (Eduardo Munoz Alvarez / Associated Press) A fan of the Nickelodeon show SpongeBob SquarePants has started an online petition asking that the Empire State Building be lit up in yellow to remember series creator Stephen Hillenburg, who died Monday of ALS at age 57. As Nickelodeon Studios is based in New York, I felt it fitting to ask the Big Apple to show its love for Stephen by embracing SpongeBobs classic yellow glow, fan Alison P. said in her petition on the Care2 website. She said she started the petition as a way to honor Hillenburg and also to drive awareness of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a degenerative neurological condition also known as Lou Gehrigs disease. The petition had closed in on its 3,000-signature goal by early Wednesday afternoon. Stephen Hillenburg at the world premiere of The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water in 2015. (Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images) SpongeBob SquarePants has taught his audience not only about friendship but helped to drive awareness around the importance of ocean conservation, Alison P. said. It was Stephens genius that was able to invent a character who could connect with kids and adults to deliver such an important message in a fun and charming way. Though Hillenburg left the series in 2002 after about 60 episodes, it has continued on through 12 seasons so far and amassed a loyal fan base that includes both young and old. There have been two SpongeBob movies, with one more on tap for 2020. Hillenburg went public with his ALS diagnosis in March 2017. READ MORE: Stephen Hillenburg, creator of SpongeBob SquarePants, dies at 57 Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Bobby Brown sues Whitney: Can I Be Me distributors, including Showtime and the BBC By Christie DZurilla Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown in 1997. (Rene Macura / Associated Press) Bobby Brown and the estate of Bobbi Kristina Brown are suing Showtime and other distributors of the unauthorized 2017 biopic Whitney: Can I Be Me, alleging the defendants used more than half an hour of old footage of both Browns, plus his other children, without permission. The suit, which seeks at least $2 million in damages, was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, where defendants Showtime, the BBC and Passion Pictures all have offices. The named defendants  which also include Tracey Baker-Simmons, Wanda Shelley, B2 Entertainment and Simmons Shelley Entertainment, based in Atlanta  are accused of distributing footage including some shot for the 2005 reality show Being Bobby Brown, thereby violating the Browns privacy rights in pursuit of financial gain. Though Brown was contacted by the filmmakers, the suit says, to be interviewed for Can I Be Me, he declined. A mention in the films credits suggests Browns production company OKd the use of the Being Bobby Brown footage, including footage of Bobbi Kristina Brown, but the complaint says no such permission was given. The footage was actually recorded prior to the divorce in 2007 between Brown and Houston. Brown never signed or executed a release for the material that appears in the film, the lawsuit says. The footage of Brown is approximately fifteen (15) years old. The Los Angeles Times review of Can I Be Me noted that some voices were absent from the film, which was co-directed by Nick Broomfield and Rudi Dolezal. (Neither director is named as a defendant in the lawsuit.) Broomfield, for his part, was hampered by the fact that he was not able to interview key people in Houstons life, including ex-husband Bobby Brown, her closest friend Robyn Crawford, and Clive Davis, the Svengali who began her career, Times critic Kenneth Turan wrote. Showtime and the BBC declined to comment on Wednesday. And an email sent to Tracey Baker-Simmons was not immediately returned. Bobbi Kristina Brown died in July 2015 from undetermined causes. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Sundance 2019: Get an inside look at the feature film lineup and the festivals early trends By Los Angeles Times Staff People walk past the Egyptian Theatre, a landmark venue showing films during the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Mindy Kaling. Alec Baldwin. Naomi Watts. Pete Davidson. Awkwafina. Emma Thompson. Shia LaBeouf . Those are just a few of the many names headed to Park City, Utah, in January for the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. On Wednesday, the Sundance Institute unveiled the full lineup of feature films from all over the world set to premiere at the annual festival. To mark the official lineup reveal, festival director John Cooper and programming director Kim Yutani visited the Times video studio for a livestream discussion. Joined by Times film reporter and The Reel host Mark Olsen, the two offered their instant analysis on the lineup and what trends to watch for come January. Read our full report on the titles selected, and press play on the video below to watch a replay of the livestream. The 2019 Sundance Film Festival runs Jan. 24 to Feb. 3. For full coverage, make sure to bookmark latimes.com/entertainment and follow @latimesent on Twitter, @latimesent on Facebook and @latimes_entertainment on Instagram. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Mac Miller singles released posthumously on Spotify By Christie DZurilla Rapper Mac Miller died Sept. 7 of an accidental overdose. (Owen Sweeney / Associated Press) Spotify has released a couple of new tunes from the late rapper Mac Miller. A recording of his song Dunno and a cover of Billy Prestons 1974 hit Nothing From Nothing are part of a Spotify Singles playlist that came out Tuesday on the streaming platform. They were recorded live in New York City before Millers death on Sept. 7. Miller appears to get emotional about an ex-girlfriend  perhaps Ariana Grande?  in the wistful Dunno, from his 2018 album Swimming. And he puts a smoky, introspective spin on Nothing From Nothing. Listen to songs below. Miller, who was 26, died from an accidental overdose of alcohol, cocaine and fentanyl, the Los Angeles County coroners office concluded. The unexpected nature of his death left many strings untied, including a Halloween concert date at the Greek Theatre that became the peer-loaded tribute concert Mac Miller: A Celebration of Life. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Margaret Atwood announces Handmaids Tale sequel to be released in 2019 Margaret Atwood announced Wednesday that a sequel to her iconic 1985 novel, The Handmaids Tale, is coming next year. (Patrick T. Fallon / Los Angeles Times) In the surest sign yet that we are living in the age of reboots, revivals and sequels, Margaret Atwood announced Wednesday that a sequel to The Handmaids Tale, her prescient 1985 novel, is in the works. Titled The Testaments, the new novel is set 15 years after the protagonists final scene in The Handmaids Tale, and is narrated by three female characters. Atwood revealed the news in a tweet Wednesday morning and said the book is set to be published next year. The Handmaids Tale and its dystopian tale of life in Gilead, a patriarchal society overseen by fundamentalist zealots with a singular obsession with womens reproductive rights has seen renewed cultural significance in recent days. The books continued relevance is thanks in part to the high-profile Hulu adaptation, along with plenty of other contributing factors. Dear Readers: Everything youve ever asked me about Gilead and its inner workings is the inspiration for this book. Well, almost everything! Atwood wrote in her tweet. The other inspiration is the world weve been living in. Yes indeed to those who asked: Im writing a sequel to The #HandmaidsTale. #TheTestaments is set 15 years after Offreds final scene and is narrated by three female characters. It will be published in Sept 2019. More details: https://t.co/e1umh5FwpX pic.twitter.com/pePp0zpuif  Margaret E. Atwood (@MargaretAtwood) November 28, 2018 I have published Margaret Atwoods work since 1976  her poetry, fiction and nonfiction, publisher Nan A. Talese said in a statement Wednesday. A manuscript from her is always a reason for joy. She writes wonderfully and has a mind like a steel trap. This new book is no exception. Beyond the timeline and the narrators, little else has been revealed about the sequel. The book is not, however, in any way connected to Hulus current adaptation. The Testaments is scheduled for release on Sept. 10, 2019, by Nan A. Talese/Doubleday with a first printing of 500,000 copies. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

A Star Is Born: Alfonso Cuaron turns 57 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Anacleto Rapping / Los Angeles Times) I think it is vital for filmmakers to have their feet firmly planted in their countrys cultures. ... But the theme must be universal. Alfonso Cuaron, 2002 FROM THE ARCHIVES: A New Mexican Revolution Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Amanda Bynes makes triumphant return on cover of Paper magazine Actress Amanda Bynes, pictured in 2013, battled several problems that played out in public for a few years. (Neilson Barnard / Getty Images) Former child star turned cautionary tale Amanda Bynes has resurfaced on the cover of Paper magazine looking happy, healthy and ready for a comeback. Bynes broke through on Nickelodeons sketch comedy show All That before scoring a series of her own at age 13 with The Amanda Show. Her star continued to rise through the early 2000s with movie roles aplenty, including What a Girl Wants, Shes the Man and Hairspray. But eventually, Bynes said in a new sit-down interview with Paper, self-image issues fueled her burgeoning drug habit and led to her abandoning acting altogether. The actress recounted a moment on the set of Hall Pass, when, after seeing herself on a monitor, literally tripping out and thinking my arm looked so fat because it was in the foreground or whatever and I remember rushing off set and thinking, Oh, my god, I look so bad. According to Bynes, it was a combination of image issues and Adderall abuse that resulted in her eventually leaving Hall Pass. Shortly thereafter, she found herself in a similar situation while watching her performance in Easy A. Amanda Bynes on the cover of Paper magazines Break the Internet issue. (Danielle Levitt / Paper) I literally couldnt stand my appearance in that movie, and I didnt like my performance, she said. I was absolutely convinced I needed to stop acting after seeing it. Bynes is clear that any bad behavior in previous years was spurred by drug use and not by psychological issues, saying that once she quit acting, her days were filled with little beyond getting high and self-destructing online. Im really ashamed and embarrassed with the things I said. I cant turn back time, but if I could, I would, Bynes said. And Im so sorry to whoever I hurt and whoever I lied about because it truly eats away at me. It makes me feel so horrible and sick to my stomach and sad. Everything I worked my whole life to achieve, I kind of ruined it all through Twitter, she said. In the interview, Bynes also discusses her four years of sobriety and educational pursuit at Los Angeles Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, as well as her potential return to acting. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Aubrey Plaza to host 2019 Spirit Awards By Sonaiya Kelley Aubrey Plaza, a Spirit Award winner herself, will host the 2019 Spirit Awards ceremony. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) Film Independent announced on Tuesday that Aubrey Plaza will host the 2019 Spirit Awards. The search for a great Spirit Awards host is never easy, Film Independents president, Josh Welsh, said in a release. This year we said, Lets find someone funny, smart, a cinephile  being a great actor wouldnt hurt and it would be an added bonus if theyve previously won a Spirit Award. Then we realized, Oh wait, thats Aubrey Plaza! I am truly honored and delighted to host the Spirit Awards this year, said Plaza in the release. It is a dream come true to host a show that celebrates my greatest loves: independent film, the people that make them possible and live television. Plaza starred opposite Elizabeth Olsen in last years Ingrid Goes West, which she also produced. As a producer, she received a Spirit Award for best first feature for that film. She currently stars in FXs Legion series, which is based on a Marvel comic of the same name. Season 3 of the show will premiere in 2019. She is also well known for her role on the Emmy-nominated series Parks and Recreation and will next appear in Lars Klevbergs Childs Play remake with Brian Tyree Henry, scheduled for release on June 21, 2019. The Spirit Awards are the primary fundraiser for Film Independents year-round programs. Nominees were announced on Nov. 16. Among this years best feature nominees are Eighth Grade, First Reformed, If Beale Street Could Talk, Leave No Trace and You Were Never Really Here. The 34th Independent Spirit Awards will broadcast live on IFC on Feb. 23, 2019. The ceremony will be held on the beach in Santa Monica. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Bruce Springsteen teases Netflixs Springsteen on Broadway with a new trailer By Christie DZurilla One step up and two steps back? More like one door closing and another one opening. So it is with Bruce Springsteen, whos bringing Springsteen on Broadway to small screens the day after his autobiographical show closes following more than a year at New York Citys Walter Kerr Theatre. This is what Ive presented to you all these years as my long and noisy prayer, as my magic trick, Springsteen says to kick off the trailer released by Netflix on Tuesday, not quite three weeks ahead of the specials debut on the streaming service. Think of it as a two-hour reward for resisting the urge to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on a ticket to the gig, which opened in October 2017. Heavy on serious theatricality, the trailer offers a low-key taste of the nearly solo show  staged in a theater that seats fewer than a thousand  which on most nights has included Springsteens wife, Patti Scialfa, on a couple of songs. Its a hybrid, but clearly not a Bruce concert. Far from it. Unlike his raucous arena shows, there are no massive singalongs by the crowd. It doesnt stretch to 3 or four hours, though its apparently grown longer with time. Its a coming-of-age story, and I want to show how this  ones coming of age  has to be earned, Springsteen told E
Movie recommendations from critics Justin Chang and Kenneth Turan.

Colette Well-acted by Keira Knightley and Dominic West, Wash Westmorelands witty, spirited English-language biopic follows the great French writer Colette during her early marriage to a literary impresario who nurtured, exploited and ultimately betrayed her talent. (Justin Chang) R

Incredibles 2 There is good news in the world tonight: Writer-director Brad Bird has brought everyones favorite superhero family back to the big screen, and we are all better off for it. (Kenneth Turan) PG

Juliet, Naked A charming film of an engaging, adult nature about two very different people trying to press reset in their lives, it is impressively directed by Jesse Peretz and acted with verve, passion and great skill by Rose Byrne, Ethan Hawke and Chris ODowd. (Kenneth Turan) R

Advertisement

Monsters and Men The shooting of an unarmed black man by a white police officer sets in motion three tense stories in this urgently topical yet quietly contemplative debut feature from writer-director Reinaldo Marcus Green. (Justin Chang) R

Private Life Kathryn Hahn and Paul Giamatti give superb performances as a middle-aged couple struggling with fertility woes in Tamara Jenkins scalpel-sharp yet infinitely tender marital dramedy, which also features expert supporting turns by Kayli Carter and Molly Shannon. (Justin Chang) R

Searching A Bay Area dad (John Cho) looks for his missing daughter in this compelling and formally innovative thriller from first-time director Aneesh Chaganty, which unfolds entirely on the characters computer and phone screens. (Justin Chang) PG-13

The Sisters Brothers John C. Reilly, Joaquin Phoenix, Riz Ahmed and Jake Gyllenhaal make superb company in French director Jacques Audiards English-language debut, a funny, sad, brutal western about outlaws and prospectors searching for gold and deliverance in 1850s Oregon. (Justin Chang) R

Sorry to Bother You Rapper-activist Boots Rileys joyous dystopian cackle of a directing debut stars a superb Lakeith Stanfield as an Oakland telemarketer who stumbles into that arrestingly surreal zone where racial identity, class rage and corporate malfeasance intersect. (Justin Chang) R

A Star Is Born No matter how many previous versions of A Star Is Born youve seen, the Bradley Cooper-Lady Gaga extravaganza about a star on the rise falling for a star on the way down should not be missed. (Kenneth Turan) R

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour 

Movie Trailers

calendar@latimes.com

@LATimesMovies
A tale of rape and massacre will move the world only so much. Nadia Murad has learned this. There are miles of mass graves, millions of refugees. Only some are heard. But Murad, whose power comes from a brokenness inside, will not let her people in northern Iraq be forgotten.

She is a reluctant heroine, a young woman of unflinching conviction and rustic grace. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize  sharing it with Denis Mukwege, a Congolese doctor  on Friday for her work to end sexual violence in war zones. Murad was kidnapped and made a sex slave when Islamic State fighters overran Yazidi villages and towns in Iraq in 2014. She escaped months later and made it to Europe.

The new documentary, On Her Shoulders, which opens in Los Angeles on Oct. 24, is an evocative portrait of this unwitting activist who lost family, endured rape and torture and became the eloquent if at times overwhelmed voice of 400,000 Yazidis, a religious minority, driven from their homes. Hers was the poetry of witness in a land of atrocity, a tale carried by a seamstress to the worlds capitals.

Directed by Alexandria Bombach, the film follows Murad for three months as she calls attention to her peoples plight, traveling from Berlin to New York to Canada. Her mother and brothers had been killed; at least 3,200 women and girls remained in captivity. This was her story, unfolded in weary persistence to politicians and ambassadors, many of whom praised and photographed her but could do little to stop the carnage.

Advertisement

The disquieting truth of On Her Shoulders is Murads gradual realization  as if layers of a bitter fruit exposed  that a village girl, even one with Amal Clooney as her lawyer, cannot quickly budge the worlds bureaucracy and cruel political designs. This point is crystallized when she is told that it will be a decade before destroyed Yazidi towns are rebuilt and refuges return home, a time when her village will be a place of no men and widows dressed in black. She cannot fathom this.

It was like losing some humanity myself by not putting the camera down and being able to hug this person. Alexandria Bombach, director of On Her Shoulders

Alexandria Bombach on Sept. 24, 2018, in Beverly Hills. Bombach gives audiences a glimpse of what it means to be the public face of a communitys tragedy in her documentary, On Her Shoulders. (ROBYN BECK / AFP/Getty Images)

The reason Nadias doing this is survivors guilt. Every award shes given doesnt feel great. Its a very odd thing if you step back and look at it, said Bombach. This is the hardest film Ive ever made. It was like losing some humanity myself by not putting the camera down and being able to hug this person. It was so difficult to be in a role where Im also someone taking something from her. I didnt want to be in that position. You had to really reflect on our responsibility as storytellers.

Murad seldom smiles in the film, perplexed at her notoriety, defiant in her cause: I wasnt raised to give speeches or to meet world leaders, she said. No matter what the world gives me, I see myself as a worthless person  I will see myself as a person of worth on the day when terrorists are brought to justice.

Murad shares similarities with Malala Yousafzai, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who was shot by Islamic militants in her native Pakistan and became an activist for girls education. But where Yousafzai is charismatic, a colorful force that makes the lens pop, Murads power is hushed humility. She cares little for clothes and makeup. Her voice can fade like a whisper. Her gaze is reminiscent of a Black Madonna painting from centuries past; the eyes of suffering foretold. But her will does not buckle.

Murads ordeal began in 2014, when Islamic State fighters controlled much of Iraq. They viewed the Yazidis as infidels and attacked, sending hundreds of thousands fleeing around the Sinjar Mountains. Murad and other Yazidi girls and women were raped and held captive in and around Mosul. She eventually escaped and told her story, including a detailed account in her memoir, The Last Girl.

At some point, there was rape and nothing else, she wrote. This becomes your normal day.

Bombach decided to use allusions of the abuse rather than specifics: I want people to question why they even need to know that, said the director. We know that thousands of women were kidnapped by ISIS for sexual slavery. Why do you need to hear these gory details? ... Its sensationalism and gawking at trauma. I think that really needs to be questioned.

The film was initially envisioned as a documentary short. But when Bombach  who in 2015 made Frame by Frame, a story of four photojournalists in Afghanistan  spent time with Murad she recalculated.

Once I met Nadia I knew it needed to be a feature, she said. We dont need to be just another company putting her story out. Were the only ones with access. But the production company (Ryot Films) said no and they kept saying no. So when I got into the editing room I just made the film in secret. It was super terrifying. If they didnt go for it the film would be taken away from me.

I wish people knew me as an excellent seamstress, as an excellent athlete ... I dont want people to know me as a victim. Nadia Murad

Nadia Murad, a Yazidi former captive of the Islamic State group, addresses the 71st session of the U.N. General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters in 2016. (Cia Pak / AP)

Often exhausted and frustrated, Murad refused to stay quiet even after the Islamic State was driven from Yazidi villages in 2015. She was named the U.N.s Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking. She traveled to refugee camps, where women held her, smoothed her cheeks and wept, as if touching her brought back some of what was lost. In one shattering scene, a boy plays a guitar and sings Yazidi songs as Murad breaks down. It was like this day after day  minutes of shame, devastation and memory mixed with the need to endure and demand justice.

I wish people knew me as an excellent seamstress, as an excellent athlete, she said. I dont want people to know me as a victim.

Moments before an appearance at the United Nations, Murad edited her speech. There was a sentence asking people to imagine the brutality inflicted upon her and her people. She crossed it out. She said no one could imagine what had happened.

She told the General Assembly: This world was not only created for you and your families. We also want life, and its our right to live it. She added: If beheading, taking women as sex slaves, raping children, and the displacement of millions will not move you  when will you move?

See the most-read stories this hour 

Twitter: @JeffreyLAT

jeffrey.fleishman@latimes.com

ALSO

Rage and wonder in 1968: The year war came through the TV and I felt pieces of childhood ending

The Captain is a chilling glimpse of perverted power and atrocity at the end of WWII
Inside an unremarkable single-family home on a sunny morning, Maverick Mav Carter sits at the head of a table joined by his wife, Lisa, and their three kids, Starr, Seven and Sekani. His eyes are fixed and face serious as he gives his children a talk  the talk  about how to act when theyre pulled over by a cop.

He then presents them with a copy of the Black Panthers Ten-Point Program, telling them to commit it to memory.

This, the opening scene of director George Tillman Jr.s The Hate U Give, is what sold Russell Hornsby on the project, which debuts in limited release this weekend following a world premiere last month at the Toronto International Film Festival. It was something different, he said, something new and unapologetic to address what it can be like being black in America.

That opening monologue, an opening salvo of the script that led with the father, with the male figure, the head of the house being strong and being present in his kids lives... As I read through it, the love that was in there, the passion, thats what sold me, he said.

Advertisement

And then, he read the reviews of Angie Thomas New York Times bestseller of the same name that the film was based on.

I said to myself, Oh, this has a chance to really be something,  he said.

Review: The Hate U Give powerfully uses the Young Adult genre to explore issues of race and social justice 

The Hate U Give follows Starr (Amandla Stenberg), a 16-year-old black girl who witnesses the fatal police shooting of her best friend Khalil (Algee Smith, Detroit). His death catapults her into the spotlight of the Black Lives Matter movement in her town as she finds herself and her voice. Hornsby plays her father and Regina Hall, her mother among a cast that also includes Common, Issa Rae, Anthony Mackie, Sabrina Carpenter and K.J. Apa.

While the film fits in with what is emerging as the year of the Black Lives Matter Cinematic Universe  on screen productions of contemporary socio-political life inspired by and related to the rise and enduring legacy of the Black Lives Matter movement  its the first to center on a young adult, and female, perspective. Its that approach that made Hornsby feel, during production, that we could really say something if were as honest and forthright and truthful as we wanted to be.

I look at it, honestly  and I could be off or wrong  as this generations Boyz N the Hood, which helped define my generation, he said. We learned about aspects of our community, about aspects of our society, about aspects of blackness and life at that time from Boyz N the Hood. 

But what Hornsby didnt know is that his performance would emerge as a standout element of the timely film  and something that might, finally, make the industry take proper notice of his talent. (Despite strong performances in the Oscar-nominated Fences and HBOs In Treatment, Hornsby has been waiting for a true breakout moment.)

Granted, when the opportunity to audition came  I was still, at the time, at that [career] place where you get submitted for jobs, he said  there was only one day to turn around a self-tape. But he was in a different emotional space required for the role he was filming in New York at the time  playing a grieving father opposite Regina King in the Netflix limited series Seven Seconds.

I cant fake emotion. So what you saw was 110 of me. Russell Hornsby

Actor Russell Hornsby, actress Regina Hall, actor Algee Smith, actress Amandla Stenberg, and director George Tillman Jr., from the film The Hate U Give. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

There was no time to prepare, and Im an actor that needs to prepare, especially as I get older, he laughed. You cant just show up anymore and be cute. You get older, and roles are real now, so youve really got to do some work. And I was mad there wasnt time to work on it  but I did it.

The tape landed him a meeting with Tillman (Soul Food, Notorious), during which he did a monologue from August Wilsons King Hedley II, which he had performed on Broadway in 2007.

I said to myself, If I just do this monologue, which shows that I can do something kind of hood and this and that, its a wrap! he said.

But he still had to audition to get studio approval from Fox days later. It provided him the time to prepare the way he wanted to, getting cornrows to help the character come to life. Once he booked the job, he said, I dug in.

I approached this like I did theater back in the day, where I sequester myself and I dont really talk to anybody, he said. This is a solo journey where all I do is focus on the character, the role, the story. Russell goes in and I come out on the other side as Mav. Im finding his walk, finding his rhythm, finding his soul, finding his voice.

For me, that is the craft of acting, literally creating something from nothing you can put me in any scenario, and Im going to be [the character]. Thats what I like to do. Those are the kinds of roles and the opportunities that I like because then I get to show what I can really do with some time and a character that I can flesh out.

Hall called Hornsbys process wonderful and such a reminder as to why you start acting in the first place...

How the deaths of Oscar Grant and Trayvon Martin inspired The Hate U Give 

A Polaroid of The Hate U Give costars Regina Hall and Russell Hornsby. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

To tell a story, to have a character live through us and to have an audience have an experience with us of their own, she continued. And because he does so much theater, the way he rehearses and approaches a character is incredibly genuine and honest. Thats what we wanted to do. We wanted every family to be able to identify with those parents and to make sure black people felt like, That is us too.

Considering The Hate U Give is a contemporary story, everyone involved shouldered a responsibility to keep the story as authentic as possible. While filming, Tillman said the spirits of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling  black men killed by police within a day of each other  wafted through the set. As did the energies of the demonstrators in Ferguson, Mo., and the unrest in Charlottesville, Va. The hoodie Starr wears in the film is an homage to Trayvon Martin, the black teen killed by self-appointed neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman in Sanford, Fla., in 2012.

Sometimes, you have those projects where you know you have to go that extra mile and work extra hard because its not just for you, Tillman said. And for us, we wanted to be authentic. That holds a lot of responsibility, and I felt it more than anything when we did the [police] shooting [sequence].

A similar feeling went through Hornsby when it came time to film the opening sequence.

It was very difficult for me... I had to keep myself from not breaking down every take, he said, noting that he struggled even during table reads. Literally whatever I could do while shooting to keep from crying, [I did] because of me having two sons and knowing the state of the country and it really being in my DNA that this is real.

It was difficult to separate Russell from Mav [in that moment]. Mav is saying This is what it is, but Russells going, Man, this is painful. This hurts. 

(Hornsbys own sons, 1 and 3, are too young for the talk, but, I know that some aspect of that conversation will have to be shared with my boys, definitely, he said.)

And then theres the scene in which Mav, after a run-in with police witnessed by his family, makes his three kids line up on the grass in front of their house and recite a portion of the Panthers Ten-Point Program:

We want an immediate end to police brutality and murder of black people.

He urges the kids to speak, in spite of the consequences, channeling the ancestral and justified rage of an oppressed community. By the end of the scene, audiences at early screenings were applauding in theaters.

Were giving audiences something they can feel. Were just saying, Sit down for a minute and feel. Russell Hornsby

A lot of my friends and the people who know me know Im a feeling person, Hornsby said. I feel, deeply And I think what carried [that scene is that] its not just about the words on the page I had to go to a place where everything is literally life and death. Im not, at that moment, acting anymore. Im telling Amandla, Im telling Lamar [Johnson], Im telling TJ [Wright], as Russell, This ... is real. They will kill you. So, if youre gonna go down, go down swinging. Go down for something. If you decide to speak, speak out and say something. If not, sit your ass down. Because thats how it is in life.

I cant fake emotion. So what you saw was 110 of me.

Critics have already begun to applaud his performance, many saying the film does justice to the 20-year veterans talent. Hornsby prefers to view it as the start of something new.

I think this film has just begun to scratch the surface of my ability, quite honestly, he said. It gave me an opportunity to show the world what depth I really have as an actor. I just come from a different place within and Ive always believed that, and so Ive got more to share.

As for how he hopes broader audiences will respond to the film, Hornsby thinks its authenticity, honesty and palpable passion will connect.

Were giving audiences something they can feel, he said. Were just saying, Sit down for a minute and feel. 

Get your life! Follow me on Twitter (@TrevellAnderson) or email me: trevell.anderson@latimes.com.
How vibrant is Emmylou Harris creative streak?

Among the numerous displays she gave Thursday during her performance at UCLAs Royce Hall none was more illustrative than the introduction she offered for her exquisitely heartbreaking 1975 song Boulder to Birmingham, which she wrote of her short-lived partnership with Gram Parsons, in the wake of his drug overdose death that also tragically ended their professional and personal relationship.

I remember standing on Santa Monica Boulevard in 1973 and watching Laurel Canyon burn, she said, an experience she alluded to as she subsequently sang, I dont want to hear a sad story / Full of heartbreak and desire / The last time I felt like this / I was in the wilderness / and the canyon was on fire.

It takes a special perspective to look at Santa Monica Boulevard and envision it as the wilderness, even in 1973.

Advertisement

But Harris has always had that special gift, a big reason that her life and music are the subject of a new exhibit, Emmylou Harris: Songbirds Flight, opening Oct. 5 at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville  while shes a couple thousand miles away launching a new tour.

At UCLA she said half-apologized on a couple of occasions for a little shaking off of the dust during her first performance in nearly a month, en route to her appearance Oct. 7 at the 18th Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco. (She also performs Oct. 5 in Carmel, Calif.)

Yes, she missed a high note or two as she put her vocal cords through the paces for two hours on Thursday, one noticeably being the pinnacle of the arching lie-la-lie refrain of Paul Simons The Boxer during her nevertheless beauteous rendition of a song she described as part of the soundtrack to so many of our lives.

Otherwise it was a characteristically inspired and inspiring guided tour through some of the greatest country, rock, folk, pop and gospel songs from the past century by such esteemed writers as Simon, Townes Van Zandt (Pancho and Lefty), Billy Joe Shaver (Old Five and Dimers Like Me), Bill Monroe (Get Up John), Kate and Anna McGarrigle (Going Back to Harlan) and, of course, Parsons and some of his collaborators (Ooh Las Vegas with Rich Grech, Wheels and Sin City, both written with his Flying Burrito Brothers co-founder Chris Hillman).

One of the most fascinating aspects of Harris musical journey has been the way shes proved the exception to F. Scott Fitzgeralds dictum that There are no second acts in American lives.

After establishing herself as one of the premier interpreters of other writers work over a quarter century in a series of critically acclaimed albums that placed her at the forefront of the progressive wing of country music, she suddenly burst forth with a flood of songs of her own.

That new chapter began in earnest with her 2000 album Red Dirt Girl. In that work, and others that followed, Harris showed that shes fully absorbed the observational and expressive skills of the writers  sung and undersung  whose songs she has long championed.

She also continues to be a magnet for superb musical accompanists, as evidenced by the empathetic and instinctive support she received from her current five-piece band consisting of lead guitarist Will Kimbrough, pianist-accordionist-guitarist Phil Madeira, fiddler-mandolinist Eamon McLoughlin, electric and upright bassist Chris Donahue and drummer Bryan Owings.

She included the title track on Thursday, along with The Sweetheart of the Rodeo, from the outlier 1985 album, The Ballad of Sally Rose, a loosely autobiographical song cycle for which she wrote or co-wrote most of the songs with her then-husband, producer-songwriter Paul Kennerly.

Among the highlights of her own material that she sang for the nearly packed Royce Hall audience was My Name Is Emmett Till, which she wrote about the African American teenager from Chicago whose brutal murder in Mississippi in 1955 was a flashpoint for the emerging Civil Rights movement. She conjured a world of emotion in the space of a few compact lines as she sang, The harm they put upon me / Was too hard for what I done / For I was just a black boy / I never hurt no one.

At 71, Harris demonstrated that the angelic purity of her voice is largely intact, colored in recent years with a bit more grit than she had in the 70s and 80s when she was a regular presence on the country music sales charts.

But as country radio moved away from the kind of authentically deep songs to which she is drawn, Harris organically helped spawn the alt-country movement in the 90s by expanding her palette musically and sonically, particularly in her work with producers Daniel Lanois (Wrecking Ball) and Malcom Burn (Red Dirt Girl).

These days, she seems almost a genre unto herself: an artist to whom listeners can turn without knowing how to classify her music, but secure in knowing their time wont be wasted on frivolity.

Its a credo she outed by quoting Van Zandts great observation that There are two kinds of music: the blues and Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah.  Harris unflinchingly favors the former, even though she certainly makes space for upbeat moments as well, but which register with the same emotional authenticity as the many songs with which she plumbs the deepest reaches of human experience.

Even when it occurs on Santa Monica Boulevard.

randy.lewis@latimes.com

Follow @RandyLewis2 on Twitter.com

For Classic Rock coverage, join us on Facebook
In the control room of Abbey Road Studios, chief archive engineer Matthew Cocker digitally queued up a plethora of new mixes of John Lennons 1971 solo album Imagine.

Among the choices at his fingertips were new stereo and multi-channel mixes of the albums 10 songs, each seeking to bring new vibrancy to the original recordings, which include the globally beloved title track, hard-hitting cuts such as Gimme Some Truth and Crippled Inside, and disarming love songs such as Oh My Love, How? and Oh Yoko!



For the record: An earlier version of this article listed the title of the accompanying coffee-table book as Imagine John Lennon. The title is Imagine John Yoko.

There also were a bevy of alternate takes and other songs the ex-Beatle wrote and recorded shortly after the breakup that left millions of Fab Four fans in mourning.

Along with the six-disc box set due Friday, Lennons widow and creative partner, Yoko Ono, is overseeing release of newly restored films they made the same year as well as an elaborate coffee-table book.

Advertisement

All this activity, however, can essentially be traced to a primary motivational force: Onos love of her husbands voice. I myself like how his voice sounds on its own, because he was a Liverpudlian, you know, Ono, 85, told The Times recently by email.

So for the last two years she has been working with veteran recording engineers Paul Hicks, Rob Stevens and others on the expanded iteration of Lennons first solo No. 1 album in several editions crowned by whats being titled Imagine  the Ultimate Collection, a six-disc set with four CDs, two Blu-ray discs and a 120-page book allowing listeners to delve into the genesis, evolution and flowering of the album that Rolling Stone ranked No. 80 on its 2012 list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Its being accompanied by a coffee-table book filled with photos and explanatory text, Imagine John Yoko (Grand Central Publishing, due Oct. 9, what would have been Lennons 78th birthday).

These songs must be heard, not just musically, but for what they say, Ono said of her rationale for revisiting the album 47 years after it was released.

Shes referring of course to the open-hearted wish for global peace and brotherhood expressed in the title track, not to mention Lennons impassioned cry for honesty in Gimme Some Truth, his protest against militarism in the raucous I Dont Wanna Be a Soldier (I Dont Wanna Die), his disarming self-doubt in How? and the ebullient ode to Ono, Oh Yoko!

Collectively, theyre passionate and political works that still feel topical. And Ono wants fans to hear Lennon the way she did.

A new stereo remix boosts Lennons vocals, bringing his voice front and center whereas the original album balanced vocals and instrumental accompaniment as determined in 1971 by Lennon, Ono and the albums co-producer, Phil Spector.

Beatles producer George Martin previously observed that Lennon frequently asked for his vocals to be doubled and enhanced with reverb and echo because the famously acerbic Beatle was uncomfortable with the sound of his unadorned voice.

He did his best, Ono said, recalling that Lennons Aunt Mimi, who raised him through much of his youth in Liverpool, was intently attuned to voices and accents. A journalist came to interview Mimi, and when that was over, Mimi said, Youre Manchester arent you? It was not a kind remark, it was not meant to be a kind remark, but it was interesting that she immediately caught that he came from Manchester.

In the new set, Ono and her team have scoured the archival tapes to find illuminating bonus takes that strip away any studio effects on Lennons voice as well as the backing he got from guitarist George Harrison, bassist Klaus Voormann, keyboardist Nicky Hopkins and drummers Alan White and Jim Keltner.

Much of the album was recorded in their Tittenhurst Park estate outside of London rather than at Abbey Road Studios where the Beatles did most of their recordings. Strings and other overdubs, including solos and accompaniment from the great R&B sax player King Curtis, were layered on later in New York.

The sound of Lennons voice was always the key for Elliot Mintz, the veteran radio personality and DJ  now a media consultant  who first interviewed Ono shortly after Imagine was released.

Listening to the songs again is wonderful, Mintz said during an album playback session held recently at Capitol Studios A in Hollywood, conducted by Hicks, who is overseeing the new stereo and 5.1 surround mixes. But hearing him talk between songs, hearing his voice in the studio  thats the hard part. It is almost overwhelming.

Mintz went back to his multiple hours of interviews he conducted and recorded with Lennon and Ono and crafted a new audio feature, titled Imagine John & Yoko  the Elliot Mintz Interviews, and included with the Ultimate version.

His often poignant interview is transcribed in the accompanying book and lets fans read, or listen to, John a day after he turned 31 in 1971, in which he talks about the future he envisioned: The first thing I think of is Yoko and I as a nice old couple, right, off the coast of Ireland or something like that, or in Cornwall, wherere it is. Thats the initial dream. I dont have any fear of age. Im sort of looking forward to it, you know. I sort of think, well, maybe I wont be so frantic when Im older.

Lennon and Ono moved in earnest on a different musical world starting in 1969, when they formed a group they called the Plastic Ono Band. Named to telegraph its malleable lineup, in various incarnations the group featured Eric Clapton, Harrison, Ringo Starr, drummer Alan White, keyboardist Nicky Hopkins and bassist Voormann, the latter an old friend of the Beatles from their hard-gigging days in Germany before Beatlemania erupted globally. Hes perhaps best known among Beatles fans for creating the cover art of the groups 1966 album Revolver.

When Lennon called and asked about reconnecting musically, to perform at the Toronto Rock and Roll Revival Festival, Voormann was ending his run playing with the Manfred Mann band.

I didnt know what the Plastic Ono Band was supposed to be, and I didnt know Yoko  I had never met her  so it was a little scary, Voormann, 80, told The Times, still frequently referring to Lennon in the present tense. I was a little hesitant, and John gets uptight if you dont react immediately. He said, Ive got Eric  how about it? So I said yes.

Voormann stayed around after that festival, handling bass duties on Lennons first post-Beatles solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, in addition to Onos companion album, Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band, as well as Imagine the following year. In between, he also helped pal Harrison on his first solo album after the Beatles disbanded, All Things Must Pass.

Voormann described the experience recording John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band as very intense because of the powerfully raw emotions Lennon was channeling after taking part in primal scream therapy with Los Angeles psychiatrist and psychologist Dr. Arthur Janov.

They were very much taken by their primal scream therapy thing, and most of those songs derive from that, he said. The nice thing about the first Plastic Ono Band album is that John wrote the songs and wanted to get them out of his system as quickly as possible. Thats what we felt  Ringo and I  through that whole recording process.

Imagine, however, was an entirely different story, Voormann said. It was totally relaxed  a very laid-back atmosphere.

That assertion is fully borne out in newly released film footage from the session in which they recorded How Do You Sleep? Lennons poison-pen letter targeting his former band mate, Paul McCartney.

I was quite happy, because George said, Yes, Im going to do it. I lived with George in those days, at his estate in Friar Park, Voormann said. We could drive together to the studio, from Henley-on-Thames to [Lennons home studio in] Ascot. It was great fun to be with George anyway, living with him and working his stuff.  We were very close. Maybe thats part of the reason he said yes to play on Imagine. 

Thats all ancient history to millions of younger music fans, an audience thats not lost on Hicks and fellow engineer Stevens, who has overseen a batch of raw mixes of the Imagine and collateral material  also on the box set  that strips away the production touches Spector, Lennon and Ono applied to the original album.

The box set also includes a series of evolution mixes  early demos and in-progress versions of songs  and a fascinating elements section that breaks out some of the defining string arrangements, vocals or different instrumental parts of various songs.

Theres always one side that says we shouldnt ever touch things, and theres the other side, which is what were doing, Hicks said. There are so many ways you can look at it. When we started this, with Yoko, we were listening and asking what, if anything, would we want to do with it. This project was more about the fact that theres a lot of emotions going on with John, and with his singing.

From our perspective, it wasnt so much trying to lure in a younger audience, but there were a couple of songs where if youre doing a focused listening, Johns vocals are pretty quiet, he said. Really, we didnt want to try to make it sound modern; we didnt want to do any crazy tricks. We just wanted to highlight some of those amazing string arrangements.

Stevens also has worked extensively with Ono on her own music as well as on other Lennon archival releases, including The John Lennon Anthology four-CD set released in 1998. In fact, as part of his preparation for this Imagine release, he came across a tape box in their archives marked only John Lennon  piano, vocal and the date: May 23, 1971. It turned out to be the first recording of Imagine, an intimate recording thats on the box set.

Ono has been intently involved in the Imagine reissue for obvious sad and unfortunate reasons, Stevens said. John is no longer here, and Phil is no longer around. Yoko knew what had happened, what things felt like, what the unadorned tracks felt like when they were being recorded. Her knowledge of that energy  and each song has its own energy, obviously  is what the marching orders were.

randy.lewis@latimes.com

Follow @RandyLewis2 on Twitter.com

For Classic Rock coverage, join us on Facebook
Birchbox is moving into Walgreens. The drugstore chain and online beauty subscription purveyor are teaming up for an 11-store pilot of 400- to 1,000-square-foot Birchbox shops within select stores. Walgreens has also taken a minority stake in Birchbox.

Starting in December, and rolling out through early 2019, branded Birchbox boutiques will be transplanted into handpicked doors in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis and New York. The locations were selected to road test the concept in a cross-section of markets. The presence of Birchbox builds upon and supports Walgreens Beauty Differentiation program where about 3,000 stores spotlight exclusive brands, improved store ambience and amplified service.

We think that by bringing this digital and extended assortment of brands into our Walgreens Beauty Differentiation environment, its going to provide a real pop for beauty customers by bringing the best of those organizations together, said Richard Ashworth, president pharmacy and retail operations at Walgreens. The move also fortifies Walgreens commitment to beauty, which he said is tightly knit with wellness. We can help you not only feel good, but look good, too. We feel just as passionate about beauty as health.

The heavy lifting Walgreens has done to polish its beauty position set the groundwork for the Birchbox collaboration. Weve been working very hard and felt that now is the right time to make a bigger step into expanding the assortment with more indie and prestige brands, said Lauren Brindley, group vice president of beauty and personal care at Walgreens and the architect of the ongoing improvements. Working with a partner like Birchbox enables us to create something really new and fresh in the U.S.

Advertisement

There is a payoff in beauty, Ashworth added. Over the past few years, every time weve invested in beauty, weve gotten a return  not only financially but also more customers. The beauty category is said to comprise about 9 percent of Walgreens total retail sales  a number considered higher than industry averages.

The Birchbox shops will offer 40 brands not traditionally found in the mass market, including prestige logos and digitally native lines that are expected to court new customers. It is really an edited and curated assortment, said Brindley. It isnt that were bringing in hundreds and hundreds of one brand. Through Birchbox, were able to bring in the best items of the best brands. We can build brands and bring new brands into the space based on what customers are asking for. The digital world has changed beauty, we need retail models that are more flexible. Birchbox will give us the chance to offer that.

In turn, exposure in Walgreens can help bring Birchboxs subscription model to even more consumers (there are 2.5 million total active customers). Katia Beauchamp, cofounder and chief executive officer at Birchbox, sees big potential in what she calls casual beauty shoppers. Shes actually the majority of consumers, representing 70 percent of the population, said Beauchamp. While they are interested in beauty, they arent the ones gazing at influencer tutorials. They like new and exciting, but like to be presented with edited choices, she explained. Two-thirds of Birchbox customers dont consider themselves proficient in beauty when they sign up for a subscription.

Products will be merchandised by need or usage rather than by brand. (WWD)

Once these consumers join Birchbox, their beauty spending doubles. The challenge is finding these customers. Walgreens gives us a way to reach her. We want to be the destination for the casual consumer to buy beauty and weve known it wasnt going to happen as a single channel company. This accelerates our plans to be with her. Their [Walgreens] customer is America.

Beauchamp said Birchbox brand partners were convinced of the merit of adding Walgreens to their distribution because of the incremental, full-size sales opportunities. It will grow the pie because they arent reaching this customer base, she said, adding she had little pushback. Brands have come a long way in their thinking. The world has changed since I started Birchbox. Putting brands into a mass or prestige bucket is no longer helpful, she said, noting direct-to-consumer brands have blurred the lines.

Walgreens has also morphed into a new breed of mass retailer. Brindley harnessed her experience with prestige brands during her time with Boots to convince beauty companies to broaden their distribution. After the past two years and bringing in No7 and Soap & Glory, the customer is ready for this, she said. And brands we work with know we understand what it takes to be successful and thats given them the confidence.

Rose-Marie Swift, makeup artist, pioneer in green beauty and founder of RMS Beauty didnt blink an eyelash. We have been partnering with Birchbox since 2011 and have been able to gain meaningful, measurable access to a new audience by introducing our organic nontoxic beauty products to their subscribers, Swift said. It is a great opportunity to scale RMS Beauty with Birchbox and reach millions of women in a really smart, effective way. I embraced Birchbox and Walgreens vision and see this as an excellent experience for todays consumer. I believe that this partnership will create a really impactful channel for prestige beauty.

Lee Peterson, a former retail and executive vice president of thought leadership and marketing at WD Partners said hes pleased to see retailers making an effort to try something new. If it works, higher-end brands will want to be a part of it. The more eyeballs you can get, the better you are going to be. Even learning simple things from Birchbox like lighting will benefit Walgreens, he said. Any incremental changes you can make in 10,000 stores is going to bring millions of dollars to the bottom line.

Walgreens will also acquire a minority equity interest in Birchbox. If the concept resonates with shoppers, more stores could implement the Birchbox experience. I dont see any limitations in scaling a model like this. But I would say the customer is in charge of that, said Ashworth. The customer will determine whether we scale it or not. We have the financial and operational expertise capability to go as fast and wide, but the reality is we want to take direction from the customers. Thats what the pilot will do  get feedback.

Stephanie Wissink, equity analyst for Jefferies LLC, added the collaboration is an example of ongoing physical and digital convergence. The model also gives Birchbox an avenue to monetize beyond its sample model.

Inside the Birchbox experience is a curated product assortment featuring full-size skin-care, hair and makeup products from notable brands including RMS Beauty, Embryolisse, Wander Beauty and Sand & Sky. The Birchbox space was designed to be warm and inviting so shoppers feel at home and cared for, according to Beauchamp. Yes, were bringing all-new prestige brands to Walgreens, but we didnt want the space to feel precious  like something you couldnt touch. We want it to have a fun, yet comfortable vibe. Thats carried out by fixtures that feel like furniture, framed Birchboxes as artwork and powder-room-inspired sanitation stations.

A unique twist designed to help shoppers cut through confusion is that products are merchandised by use or need rather than by brand. A grid-style format breaks down the key steps in a beauty routine, along with specific goals or concerns (such as dry skin or hair breakage), with Birchbox-trained Walgreens Beauty Consultants on hand to offer advice and guide the customer through the experience. Were really merchandising by whats the job that has to get done, said Beauchamp.

A look at the BYOB display where shoppers can build customized sample boxes. (WWD)

Additionally, within the Walgreens pilot stores, Birchbox will offer subscriptions to its monthly delivery services of personalized samples and a Build Your Own Birchbox experience, which is a signature element of Birchboxs flagships in New York and Paris. The BYOB section will feature samples from additional Birchbox brand partners such as Amika and Winky Lux. Each space will also have other features, including product tutorials, sanitation stations and areas to test and play with products. Birchbox subscription gift cards will be sold within the department. Additionally, a curated Birchbox shop will be included on Walgreens digital properties.

Through its Look Boutiques, initiated in its Duane Reade stores, Walgreens has shown it can move premium lines. The company said the Birchbox concept does not replace Look Boutiques. They can live side by side, it is a completely different approach, Ashworth said. Look Boutique is another example of us innovating in beauty.

Brindley added that the move into prestige doesnt negate Walgreens commitment to heritage mass lines. The brands we have today are just as important. We recognized our customers are asking for extended choice and different price points and the chance to discover indie brands, but that doesnt mean existing brands are not a fundamental part of our story going forward. She said space for Birchbox was created by using existing footage more efficiently rather than dramatic cutbacks in other beauty brands.

The mass market is gearing up to halt the migration of shoppers to online competitors and specialty stores. The most recent Nielsen data through Sept. 22 puts mass makeup and nail flat on a 52-week basis with skin care. Although skin care is up 6 percent, fragrance is down 4 percent.

Retailers are trying to change the trajectory. Last month, CVS announced it linked with Glamsquad to offer services in an elevated beauty experience called BeautyIRL. CVS also made an investment in Glamsquad. The partnership mind-set seems to be emerging among drugstore chains, said Wissink. There appears to be an economic and strategic rationale for both parties. With Walgreens investment in Birchbox, the retailer joins Viking Global, which secured a stake in the company earlier this year.
California has long been home to Asian pear orchards, many of which were started by Asian immigrants, primarily Japanese, more than a century ago. Often much larger and juicier than their European counterparts, Asian pears are known for their sweet flavor, crisp texture and abundant fragrance. Often referred to as an apple pear or sand pear, they are perhaps best envisioned as halfway between apples and more common European pears.

In addition to Asian pears, Jeff Rieger has been tending more than 50 varieties of fruits and vines at his Penryn Orchard Specialties since 2002, when he bought the orchard from George Oki, who started the farm in the Sierra foothills just east of Sacramento in Placer County. Among the many varieties of produce Rieger grows, hes known for his pears, which he treks over a 900-mile round-trip commute to the Santa Monica farmers market every week.

Theyre so delicate, his partner, Laurence Hauben, says of Asian pears. Unlike European pears, you have to pick them ripe and ready to eat. They bruise easily, she notes.

Penryn currently grows nine varieties of pears, four Asian  light, sweet, early-season Kosui; tender, aromatic Hosui; bright 20th Century; and crisp, mild Shinseiki  as well as two types of Chinese pears  sweet-tart Yali and Tsuli, which Hauben describes as Yalis country cousin  shes not as polished-looking and a little more spicy  along with three European varieties.

Advertisement

Spice and honey in the fall: 7 recipes using Asian pears >>

Most commercial orchards pick Asian pears at 11 to 12% brix [a measurement of sugar content], says Hauben. We pick them at 15, 16, 17%. We pick them sweet and like them full-flavored.

Penryn will be carrying Asian and Chinese pears  not quite as round as Asian pears, Chinese tend to be more fragrant and assertive in flavor  for the next few weeks. Hauben recommends holding the Asian pears in the refrigerator until ready to eat, but holding the Chinese at room temperature. Store them on your counter in a beautiful fruit bowl like a floral arrangement. Their fragrance intensifies.

At their ripest, Asian pears are probably best enjoyed as a snack, provided you have plenty of napkins to wipe up the juices. Or slice them to add to salads or cheese platters, or bake them into crumbles or cakes  theyre a great alternative to apples in a deep-dish pie. Theyre also wonderful in savory dishes, standing up alongside pork or duck.

You can find Penryn Orchard Specialties at the Santa Monica farmers market on Wednesdays.

noelle.carter@latimes.com

@noellecarter
I never learned to cook, Geeta Bansal tells me. I have none of those Padma Lakshmi stories about a spice box from my grandmother.

Of course, shes talking about a couple lifetimes ago, back before she became the chef-owner of Clay Oven, a standard-bearer of northern Indian cooking in Irvine since its opening in 1986. And before that persona led to her informal role as an emissary of Southern Californias Indian cooking community, interviewing the worlds splashiest chefs for her blog, Gastronome Geeta, or participating in their food conferences around the globe.

For the record: An earlier version of this story misspelled the first name of Clay Oven chef Geeta Bansals husband as Parveen. It is Praveen. Also, the story said that Geeta Bansal earned a masters degree from Rutgers University. She was in a PhD program.

The path she took to open her own restaurant, in an Orange County mini-mall, was as circuitous as those she habitually travels now. Born into a privileged family in Delhi, she attended Miranda House, the womens college at the University of Delhi (cookbook author and actress Madhur Jaffrey is also an alum), and then Rutgers University in New Jersey. And then, as Bansal says, California happened.

It was one of those impetuous things. We were just giving California a try; I dont know why, says Bansal. When she and her husband, Praveen, got here, they decided to open a restaurant, just as impetuously. I didnt like what anybody was doing. Id seen a more sophisticated version of Indian food growing up. 

Advertisement

Although Praveen, who is also Clay Ovens sommelier, was trained in restaurant management and hospitality, Bansals training was not in food.

But she picked up cooking quickly. Who defines Indian food by saag paneer and tandoori chicken? Theres way more to it; its more contemporary, Bansal says of the Indian food she saw in restaurants when she first got to Orange County. I have a lot of pride in my culture; thats what got me into it. So Bansal used seasonal ingredients and put game on the menu, and her cooking evolved over time.

Watermelon Curry served at Clay Oven, in Irvine, Calif. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

Recipe: Watermelon curry 

More than 30 years later, Bansal, her husband and their son, Tarun, have a restaurant that is a neighborhood mainstay, known for its progressive Indian cooking. A typical meal at Clay Oven might include tandoor-roasted bone marrow, shrimp bathed in a mango-coconut sauce the color of sunlight, or a vibrant bowl of watermelon curry.

Bansal is defensive about the Indian-ness of her cooking. There is no fusion in any of my food, she says. The spicing, the techniques are all Indian; the product is whatevers growing around us, whatevers available, we use it. But there will be no burgers appearing on the menu here. No poutines. When people come in here, theyre getting a glimpse of our culture.

But shes not a strict traditionalist. I look into the future of gastronomy, and I like to see where things are going next. Rather than just be casually curious, in 2012, Bansal began to moonlight as a writer, blogging about chefs and restaurants, and publishing her interviews in the OC Weekly and on the Daily Meal website. She stalks big game: Massimo Bottura, Elena Arzak, Carme Ruscalleda and Joan Roca, Pierre Gagnaire, Alain Ducasse, Virgilio Martinez, Yoshihiro Narisawa. She recently interviewed William Drew, editor of the Worlds 50 Best Restaurants list  and took him to task for the lists lack of gender parity.

I always have good conversations with her, says chef Magnus Nilsson of Faviken restaurant in Sweden. She has eaten pretty much everywhere, not just once but often several times over several years, so she has a rare frame of reference.

The curiosity, energy  and maybe a little disquiet  that propel Bansal from restaurant to restaurant, conference to conference, infiltrates her conversation too. Look at the industry. Its hard to find cooks anywhere. The reason why Noma started having chefs come out into the dining room, she says, referring to how the cooks serve diners the majority of their meals at the influential Danish restaurant, is not because they wanted to set a new fad. Its because they had no waiters.

Tandoori Bone Marrow, served at Clay Oven, in Irvine, Calif. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

She definitely travels more than most chefs and is curious to know what people are thinking and doing, not just cooking, says Lara Gilmore, who attends most events with husband Bottura, including the most recent MAD, the Copenhagen food symposium started six years ago by Noma chef Rene Redzepi, and works with Bottura on Food for Soul, his project to help feed the poor and reduce food waste. The more women chefs from diverse cultural backgrounds we have adding to the gastronomy dialogue, the better.

Hard-and-fast plans havent been made, but Bansal is considering another role: gatherer. After attending many of the most exclusive culinary conferences around the world  including MAD, Mesamerica in Mexico City, Mistura in Peru, the Gastromasa Gastronomy Conference in Turkey  shed like to start her own. These gatherings are where the food-minded come together to discuss sustainability, innovation and change. And its precisely this frame of reference  and these contacts  that Bansal wants to plumb, to organize a symposium here in Southern California.

I want to start conversations  not one conversation, many conversations, says Bansal.

Clay Oven, 15435 Jeffrey Road, No. 116, Irvine, (949) 552-2851, clayovenirvine.com. Instagram: @clayovenirvine. 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., 5:30 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.

amy.scattergood@latimes.com

@ascattergood
When California ordered property owners to provide beach access for all, Hollister Ranch made the case that the pristine coastline west of Santa Barbara deserved an exception.

With 14,500 acres connected only by private roads, ranchers argued it was impossible for each of them, as required by law, to provide a public route to the beach every time they sought a permit to build. So lawmakers allowed owners to pay a fee instead  with the money going toward a ranch-wide route to be built by the state as expeditiously as possible.

But decades later, no one has held up that end of the bargain.

The fees? Still sitting in the bank  and amounting to a lot less than the state envisioned.

The path to the beach promised to the public? Still just a promise.

The standoff continues to this day, with some of Californias most-coveted beaches and surf breaks closed off to everyone but landowners, their guests, select groups and those strong enough to paddle in through treacherous waters. Coastal officials faced public backlash this year when they gave up a key fight by agreeing to ocean-only access.

With renewed public pressure to open Hollister Ranch once and for all, many have dusted off old records and reexamined the special provision of the Coastal Act on page 110, part (b) of section 30610.8.

While other property owners up and down the coast have over the decades been forced to play by the rules, how did 8.5 miles of coastline manage to remain so private  and with so little scrutiny  for more than 36 years?

Ranchers had the money to continue a legal fight in perpetuity. They had the defense that nature, under their private stewardship, has thrived. And as the legislative history faded from memory, the political will to bring about change petered out.

Youve had a handful of extremely wealthy, powerful people who have doggedly fought and delayed access at every turn.  They have lobbied in Sacramento, and they have bought the best lawyers that money can buy, Coastal Commissioner Aaron Peskin said. But because of the public outcry and all the attention, everything has now bubbled to the surface.

Pristine coastline on Hollister Ranch. Tamlorn Chase / For The Times

The long standoff

Initiated by voters and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in his first term, the 1976 Coastal Act was a response to unregulated shoreline development. Almost immediately after its passage, beachfront owners and interest groups across the state began jostling to amend or repeal sections of the law.

At Hollister Ranch, where a dozen owners could jointly own one of the subdivisions 136 parcels, enforcing access rules proved particularly complicated. Property owners challenged this in court, saying that individual lot owners were unable to each provide a public accessway because the common roads were controlled by a third party  the Hollister Ranch Owners Assn.

The litigation pressed on, keeping landowners from developing their properties and the public from accessing the coast. The Legislature, in an attempt to resolve the standoff, added in 1979 a special section to the Coastal Act: Rather than require public access be provided parcel by parcel, permit by permit, owners could pay an in-lieu fee that would fund a public beach access program for the whole ranch.

Document "Every person receiving a coastal development permit or a certificate of exemption for development on any vacant lot within an area designated pursuant to this section shall ... pay to the commission, for deposit in the Coastal Access Account, an 'in-lieu' public access fee."  California Coastal Act see the document

But landowners resisted, according to public records, and blocked state surveyors from appraising the parcels needed to create the public path.

Coastal officials, using what site data they could gather, created in 1981 the Hollister Ranch Coastal Access Program. The plan included a walking trail and bicycle lane that would run parallel to the ranchs main private road. To minimize the number of cars  in the interest of privacy and environmental protection  a bus would operate from nearby Gaviota State Park to six Hollister beaches, where there would be campsites and bathrooms.

Read the Hollister Ranch coastal access plan 

Still facing pushback, officials agreed in 1982 to implement the plan in three phases. The proposed campsites were removed. A cap was also set on the number of people allowed on the ranch each day, beginning with 100 people in phase one and a maximum of 500 in phase three.

But Hollister kept fighting, with the standoff now over the cost of the in-lieu fee. So the Legislature stepped in again and added another section to the Coastal Act, fixing the fee at $5,000 for each permit until the appraisal was completed and an official fee could be established.

Document "... with respect to the Hollister Ranch public access program, the in-lieu fee shall be five thousands dollars ($5,000) for each permit."  California Coastal Act see the document

In the meantime, the Coastal Conservancy will be loaned $500,000  so that work can begin immediately on the access program, according to a legislative memo explaining each section of the 1982 bill. The entire $500,000 will be repaid as individual fees are collected.

Document "Each of the 100 property owners will contribute $5000 to the access program when applying for a permit to develop his/her property... In the meantime, the Coastal Conservancy will be loaned $500,000... so that work can begin immediately on the access program. ... The entire $500,000 will be repaid as individual fees are collected."  AB 321 (1982) see the document

But as Gov. Brown left office and Gov. George Deukmejian came in, the push to open Hollister lost steam. The attorney general in 1983 obtained a court order authorizing state officials to enter Hollister Ranch and complete the appraisal, but records show no evidence it took place. Other records show almost half of the $500,000 loan was spent on the fight to survey the land.

Deukmejian, who was in office from 1983 to 1991, sought to dismantle the Coastal Commission, which he viewed as a barrier to local control of development. The Legislature passed a few bills that would have given coastal officials more authority to carry out the Hollister access plan  he vetoed them all.

Thats when the momentum really hit the wall in terms of access at Hollister, Sarah Christie, the commissions legislative director, said during a recent meeting. The governor reduced our budget by 50%, we laid off half of our staff  so as you can imagine, the Coastal Commission itself got diverted in terms of its priorities on a day-to-day basis.

Environmental purity

As other access battles took center stage and Hollister faded from institutional memory, the ranch remained a private oasis. Owners have long contended that letting the public in could spoil the ranchs coastline and undo years of effort to protect the land. They point to the temporary access that they already grant to scientists, academics, historical societies, environmental groups and schoolchildren.

Over the years, this stance as private caretakers of the environment won the support from some members of the community. For a time, it even helped Hollister escape scrutiny by some of the states fiercest coastal advocates who until recently had focused their access battles elsewhere.

I never really questioned it. I just accepted that theyve always turned people away, said Susan Jordan of the California Coastal Protection Network, who is now fighting for greater access with a coalition of advocacy groups through a court intervention. Everyone here had just accepted that Hollister was an exclusive fiefdom of environmental purity.

Read more: Coastal advocates challenge deal that bars public from reaching Hollister Ranch by land 

John Schleuss / Los Angeles Times

Carter Ohlmann, a research oceanographer at UC Santa Barbara, supports the environmental protection. He points to the high biodiversity that has thrived at Hollister without heavy human interruption.

Anthony Friedkin, a photographer who has visited the ranch since the 1960s, said that it makes him sad that the ranchers are getting portrayed as these evil rich elitists. Yes, some are wealthy, he said, but to their credit they have been exceptional guardians of this exceptional land.

He still recalls the first time he stepped onto Hollister  it felt spiritual, with packs of butterflies and wildlife that roamed free.

I cant even begin to tell you how overwhelmingly magnificent this land is, and it really deserves to be left alone and preserved, he said. There are so many beautiful beaches that the public can access in the area. Why not let this small stretch of land be without pavement, without parking lots, restrooms, trash and crowds so thick you can smell the sunscreen in the air?

A young buck scrambles into the hills along Hollister Ranch Road. Landowners have long contended that letting the public in could undo years of effort to protect the environment. Al Seib / Los Angeles Times

In a history book published by the Hollister Ranch Conservancy, its authors explained that the ranch represents a concept of land development that is a model for both landowners and environmentalists  allowing very limited development and achieving conservation of habitat and resources, and sharing those resources for education and science  while still preserving property rights.

Given time, money and human sensitivity, the book said, the integrity of a magnificent piece of land such as the Hollister Ranch can remain intact.

The fees

The special sections carved into the Coastal Act have given Hollister Ranch unique standing  but even that legal language is now in dispute.

The sticking point was the recent realization that based on the way the law was written, the sections addressing Hollister Ranch can be read a few different ways. And for 30 some years, no one had seemed to challenge the property owners interpretation of how the fees should be paid.

But based on the way state officials now say the law should be interpreted, the numbers dont add up.

Santa Barbara County has issued 206 coastal development permits to Hollister Ranch since 1982, according to a Times records request. If the 1982 amendment to the Coastal Act did indeed require a $5,000 in-lieu fee per permit, that would amount to more than $1 million.

To date, officials have received only $295,000.

When asked about the discrepancy, Dianne Black, the countys planning and development director, whose department is responsible for issuing the permits, said that the county had been collecting an in-lieu fee only as a one-time payment for the first coastal development permit issued on a vacant property at Hollister Ranch  not for every permit.

The Hollister Ranch Owners Assn., which represents the more than 1,000 people today who own a share of the ranch, also says the fee is a one-time payment per parcel, citing a clause that says the in-lieu fee is required for a permit seeking to develop on any vacant lot on the ranch. So if an owner built a house on an empty parcel and paid $5,000, their lawyers said, thats the last fee they would have to pay.

If the fee was required for each and every permit, the lawyers said in a letter to state legislators, then if the owner wants to build a barn, he pays another $5,000. If he wants to put up a fence  thats another $5,000. An owner who puts up six different structures (barn, guest house, ag worker housing, etc) would pay $5,000 x 6 = $30,000.

There would be no limit to the number of times that an individual property owner would be subject to the fee. This is clearly not what the Legislature intended when enacting these provisions of the Coastal Act, an attorney for the owners group wrote in a recent letter to the Coastal Commission, calling on officials to continue the practice of requiring a fee per vacant lot. To do otherwise would be acting beyond its Legislative mandate and likely an unconstitutional taking.

The 1982 access plan, they added, is obsolete and infeasible.

The Coastal Commission, now aware of this discrepancy, said it has updated the wording in local planning documents to clarify that the $5,000 fee is required for every project.

Going forward, its going to be per permit, not per vacant lot. We made sure the county is clear on that, executive director Jack Ainsworth said. Well be monitoring all the permits coming in.

www.hollister-ranch.com

The push to open Hollister Ranch had gone quiet until this year, when coastal officials ceded a claim to a public path in a controversial deal that many considered favorable to landowners.

Facing public outrage, the state started looking for ways to finish what it started decades ago.

A number of coastal commissioners, not enamored with the deal they approved, have begun speaking out. Two commissioners recently appealed a Hollister Ranch permit that had been issued to build a new house, guest house and footbridge  citing for the first time in decades that a condition of any permit, under the Coastal Act, is providing public access in a timely manner.

The panel will vote this month whether to overrule this permit, marking perhaps another legal avenue for public access.

Read more: Amid backlash, Coastal Commission asks state to 'explore all potential options' to open Hollister Ranch to the public 

At the same time, Gov. Brown rejected a separate attempt by lawmakers to open the ranch.

The legislation would have recommitted the state to the 1982 access plan and clarified the purpose of the in-lieu fees. It also laid the foundation for more aggressive strategies, such as acquiring private land for public use through eminent domain.

Brown said the legislation was well-intentioned  but years too late.

Although this program could have been completed over three decades ago, Brown wrote in his veto message this week, it was not and it is now outdated.

So he urged state officials to go back to the drawing board and craft a better plan.

rosanna.xia@latimes.com

Interested in coastal issues? Follow @RosannaXia on Twitter.
A ride-hail driver was arrested this week after authorities say he sexually assaulted a passenger he picked up from a pub.

The woman summoned the driver  identified as Octavio Alvarez Gomez, 37  about 10 p.m. on Tuesday via Lyft to take her to her home in Van Nuys. Before she got out of the car, Gomez sexually assaulted her, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Detectives conducted surveillance on the suspect and subsequently arrested him on suspicion of kidnapping with the intent to commit a sexual assault, rape, sexual penetration with a foreign object and sexual battery.

Gomez is being held on more than $2.2-million bail.

Advertisement

Police are asking the publics help in finding additional possible victims. Anyone with information is asked to call investigators at (818) 374-9500.

alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @AleneTchek
A former Marine convicted of brutally slaying five women in Southern California and three in Illinois over the course of a decade was sentenced to death Friday.

An Orange County Superior Court jury convicted Andrew Urdiales, 54, in May of five counts of special-circumstances murder, which prompted a second phase of the trial to determine whether he should serve life behind bars or face the death penalty.

Jurors ultimately recommended in June that he receive capital punishment for killing Robbin Brandley, Julie McGhee, Maryann Wells, Tammie Erwin and Denise Maney between 1986 and 1995. Judge Gregg Prickett affirmed that recommendation on Friday.

Im gratified that we finally got this result. When you think about the serial killings and terrible things he did, its hard to think of Urdiales as a person  hes a human monster, Orange County Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas said in a prepared statement Friday.

Advertisement

Urdiales killings in Southern California began in January 1986 when he stabbed 23-year-old Brandley 41 times in the back, neck, chest and hands with a hunting knife as she walked to her car in a dimly lit parking lot at Saddleback College after a piano concert, according to prosecutors.

Authorities were not able to identify Brandleys killer, and the case grew cold over the next several years, during which the bodies of McGhee, 29; Wells, 31; and Erwin, 18, were found in deserted areas of Riverside and San Diego counties. Each of the women had been shot in the head, according to prosecutors.

Erwins father, Charles Erwin, said during the sentencing hearing Friday that Urdiales killed him when he murdered his daughter.

This has ruined my life, he said. It has turned my physical being into pieces, my mental being into pieces.

The bulk of Urdiales killings in California happened while he was enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and stationed at Camp Pendleton and Twentynine Palms, according to prosecutors.

Urdiales moved to Illinois after he was discharged from the military, but returned to California in 1995 to vacation in Palm Springs. During that trip, he sexually assaulted and killed Maney, 32, by shooting her in the head, prosecutors said.

Urdiales attorney, Denise Gragg, argued during the trial that brain scans and other tests showed he had symptoms of someone suffering from partial fetal alcohol syndrome stemming from his mothers drinking while she was pregnant, City News Service reported.

Gragg said brain damage and traumatic events during his childhood caused him to have problems managing his anger and emotions, according to CNS.

Urdiales killed three women in four months in Illinois before he was arrested in November 1996 in Indiana after officers saw him in his truck loitering in an area known for prostitution. Officers found a gun in his car that he was not permitted to carry and confiscated it. A year later, Chicago police officers matched Urdiales gun to bullets recovered from the bodies of the three victims.

Urdiales was linked to the Southern California slayings after his arrest. He had been sentenced to death for the Illinois murders, but after the death penalty was outlawed in the state, he was ordered to serve life in prison without parole.

In 2011, Urdiales was extradited to Orange County to stand trial, where Rackauckas decided to seek the death penalty against him based on the nature of the crimes.

The death penalty is the only just punishment for Urdiales, Rackauckas said. He doesnt deserve to be on the planet with the rest of us.

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @Hannahnfry
As Sudanese immigrants listened, U.S. District Judge Edward Chen grilled a Trump administration lawyer arguing that immigrants who were granted temporary protected status could safely return to a homeland long plagued by armed conflict.

The stakes were high for hundreds of thousands of people from not only the African nation but also El Salvador, Nicaragua and Haiti. Since last year, the Trump administration had rolled back TPS benefits for people from these countries and others, leaving them vulnerable to deportation.

But in their battle to prevent this from happening, immigrant advocates in the case of Ramos vs. Nielsen wielded a special weapon: the governments own words.

The judge asked Justice Department attorney Adam Kirschner whether he knew what percentage of the Sudanese population lives in regions still considered dangerous.

No, your honor, Kirschner said.

Wouldnt it matter before you deport somebody whether their family is in a safe or unsafe region? Chen retorted.

On Wednesday, Chen sided with the plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit brought in March by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, the National Day Laborer Organizing Network and the law firm of Sidley Austin. The judges ruling suspends the termination of TPS for residents from the four named countries so they wont be deported while the case plays out in court.

More than 1,000 Sudanese immigrants alone would have been at risk of deportation starting onNov. 2.

The judges ruling was not only a setback against the government, but also suggests that Chen could rule against the Trump administration in the end. He wrote that without court intervention, immigrants who have built lives of more than a decade in this country would be subject to removal.

Absent injunctive relief, TPS beneficiaries and their children indisputably will suffer irreparable harm and great hardship, Chen wrote.

Document "Under the TPS statute, if you determine that the statutory conditions supporting a country's designation for TPS continue to exist, you must extend the TPS designation for an additional period of 6, 12, or 18 months. The review of conditions in Sudan indicates that it remains unsafe for individuals to return to Sudan. " see the document

In their case, plaintiffs were helped by hundreds of pages of memos and emails that revealed the Trump administrations struggle to articulate why the humanitarian protections were no longer necessary.

In the documents, career diplomats and other experts cautioned that the decisions would result in significant humanitarian and political repercussions, while Department of Homeland Security staffers searched for positive gems to justify their arguments that recipients no longer needed legal protections.

Lawyers representing the plaintiffs argued that government officials ignored facts, approached their decisions about TPS with a political agenda and were motivated by racism. Administration officials denied those allegations, saying the program was never intended to provide long-term reprieve.

As intended by Congress, TPS was always meant to be a temporary mechanism to address urgent humanitarian conditions, Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Katie Waldman said in a written statement. She said a review showed some countries no longer meet the requirements justifying extension of the program.

Plaintiffs lawyers say officials illegally diverged from how all previous administrations interpreted the law as part of a broad effort to reduce all immigration to the U.S.

Government lawyers say they are merely emphasizing different factors in weighing whether to extend protections. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told members of a congressional committee in April that she cant extend protections if the original reasons they were granted under no longer exist.

TPS is a form of humanitarian relief granted to countries devastated by natural disasters or war that allows beneficiaries to work legally while they remain in the U.S. Created in 1990, the program applies to people from 10 countries. But the Trump administration has announced the termination of TPS for 98% of those who have it, many of whom have lived in the U.S. for decades. After the lawsuit was filed, Trump also canceled TPS for Honduras and Nepal.

Immigrants from the four countries named in the suit make up the majority of the more than 300,000 total beneficiaries. Nearly 200,000 are from El Salvador alone.

Plaintiffs lawyers argued that government officials were driven by Trumps America first agenda.

On Oct. 22, Kathy Nuebel Kovarik, chief of U.S. Citizenship and Immigrations Services Office of Policy and Strategy, asked her senior advisor Robert Law to revise a draft memo on the TPS decision for Haiti. Months earlier, government researchers had highlighted conditions that remained crippling  cholera, drought, a migrant crisis, and displacement from Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and the 2010 earthquake  and recommended that protections be extended for 18 months.

Law was hired from the Federation for American Immigration Reform, one of the most influential organizations advocating for a reduction of legal and illegal immigration. He responded that the draft was overwhelmingly weighted for extension, which I do not think is the conclusion we are looking for.

Two weeks later, onNov. 6, the day then-acting Homeland Security Secretary Elaine Duke decided to terminate TPS for Nicaragua, she defended her decision to White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly. These decisions along with the public statements will send a clear signal that TPS in general is coming to a close, she wrote. I believe it is consistent with the Presidents position on immigration.

Four months later, on March 29, Duke wrote in a personal memo that the TPS program must end for these countries soon. This conclusion is the result of an America first view of the TPS decision.

In his decision Wednesday, Chen said the plaintiffs showed substantial evidence that Duke illegally changed the criteria without any justification. He said they also raised serious questions about whether the decisions were influenced by the White House and based on animus against non-white, non-European immigrants, in violation of the Constitution.

Sudan has been on a list of state sponsors of terrorism since 1993. Its president, Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir, was indicted in 2009 and 2010 on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the western region of Darfur. The United Nations estimates that the Darfur conflict has driven nearly 2 million people from their homes and killed 300,000.

Experts said they were concerned that Homeland Security was mischaracterizing the situation in Sudan and warned that the only way to justify TPS termination would be to cut back all explanation of the situation in the country instead of providing sanitized country conditions in a public-facing document, which would invite criticism, according to an Aug. 31, 2017, email.

Two days before Duke authorized the Sudan termination, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Director Francis Cissna criticized the memo drafted to announce the decision, saying it was full of contradictions. He highlighted a section affirming that the country remained dangerous and that statutory requirements for temporary protective status designation were still being met.

This memo reads like one person who strongly supports extending TPS for Sudan wrote everything up to the recommendation section, and then someone who opposes extension snuck up behind the first guy, clubbed him over the head, pushed his senseless body out of the way, and finished the memo, Cissna wrote. Am I missing something?

In the San Francisco courtroom last week, Sudanese immigrant Hiwaida Elarabi watched both sides make their case.

Elarabi, 55, came to the U.S. in 1997 as a tourist but stayed after the war severely worsened back home. The U.S. government designated Sudan for TPS that year. For Elarabi, a tech worker with a masters degree in bioinformatics from Brandeis University in Massachusetts, the possibility that she could be deported was devastating. She described the judges decision Wednesday as a huge relief.

I am afraid to return to Sudan, and I cannot imagine living in the United States without legal status, she said. The deadline ... was coming really fast, and it was terrifying and distressing.

Support our journalism Please consider subscribing today to support stories like this one. Get full access to our signature journalism for just 99 cents for the first four weeks. Already a subscriber? Your support makes our work possible. Thank you.

andrea.castillo@latimes.com | Twitter: @andreamcastillo
The father and brother of Melyda Corado, the 27-year-old store manager killed by a police officers bullet at a Trader Joes in Silver Lake, have filed claims for damages with the city.

The claims, which allege excessive force, wrongful death and other violations, are a necessary step before suing in the courts.

John Taylor, an attorney for the Corados, said the claims were filed Thursday because the Los Angeles Police Department has not provided the family with all of the videos surrounding the shooting.

The city has forced us to file the claims to take steps to get questions answered about how their daughter was killed, Taylor said.

Advertisement

Corado was killed on July 21, after two police officers pursued a suspect who had shot his grandmother in South L.A. and taken a young woman hostage.

The suspect, identified by police as Gene Evin Atkins, led the officers on a lengthy chase with the hostage in his grandmothers car. He parked the car outside the Trader Joes and ran toward the store, which was crowded with Saturday afternoon shoppers.

The suspect fired his gun at the officers, who fired back. An officers bullet struck Corado in the arm and passed through her body, fatally wounding her.

Another bullet hit the suspect in the arm, but he held shoppers and employees hostage inside the store for three hours before surrendering.

Atkins, 28, has been charged with 51 felony counts, including murder, kidnapping, premeditated attempted murder and attempted murder of a peace officer.

The LAPD has released video and audio clips in two batches, to comply with a new policy requiring recordings to be made public within 45 days of shootings by police officers.

The edited releases, like others under the policy, contain voice overs by LAPD officials and are stitched together from footage that includes body cam and dash cam recordings and 911 calls, to form a coherent narrative. The editing has been criticized by Corados attorneys and others as a public relations effort to shape the story favorably for the LAPD.

Josh Rubenstein, a spokesman for the LAPD, said the department cannot comment on pending litigation but continues to express sympathy for the Corado family.

Rubenstein asserted that all videos have been released publicly that capture the moments when the two police officers, Sinlen Tse and Sarah Winans, fired their weapons.

Everything from the use of force is out there, Rubenstein said.

Taylor disputed Rubensteins statement, pointing out that video has not been released from LAPD officers who pulled up to the scene as the shooting was happening.

Additional videos, including those from the body cameras of officers standing by during the hostage standoff, have not been released to the public.

Corado was beloved by Trader Joes regulars, and tributes to her piled up outside the store in the days after her death.

cindy.chang@latimes.com

For more news on the Los Angeles Police Department, follow me on Twitter: @cindychangLA
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly witnessed on Thursday the signing of two agreements with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).



The first agreement is meant to establish a regional headquarters for the IDB group in Cairo.



Meanwhile, the second deal will be earmarked for boosting strategic cooperation between Egypt and the bank from 2019 to 2021, with total investments of about $3 billion.



The first agreement comes within the framework of the two sides' keenness to increase bilateral cooperation in the foreseeable future.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


With talks aimed at dismantling North Koreas nuclear arsenal at an impasse, U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo is heading to Pyongyang to meet with Kim Jong Un in hopes of reviving the process  and to set up a potential second summit with President Trump.

Pompeo said he was confident his fourth visit to North Korea this year would advance the commitment Kim and Trump made when they met in Singapore on June 12. But at least in public, he did not set high objectives for his trip.

The mission is to make sure that we understand what each side is truly trying to achieve, Pompeo said Friday, according to a reporter aboard his flight to Tokyo, his first stop on a trip that also will take him to Seoul and Beijing. He is scheduled to meet Kim early Sunday in Pyongyang.

Pompeo said he might be able to set up a tentative date and location for a second summit between Kim and Trump.

Advertisement

Kim had declined to meet Pompeo when he last visited the North Korean capital in July, and state media later denounced what it called Pompeos gangster-like demands. Trump abruptly cancelled another planned visit by his secretary of State in August amid concerns that Pompeo would again fail to achieve progress.

Since then, Kim has sent Trump what the president has called beautiful letters, and Pompeo met his North Korean counterpart, Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly last week. Trump also sought to downplay criticism that his efforts had yet to produce a timetable or any other sign of denuclearization.

If it takes two years, three years or five months  doesnt matter, Trump said. Several days later, he offered effusive public praise for Kim, saying at a campaign rally last weekend that he and the North Korean leader fell in love.

On Tuesday, apparently emboldened by those comments, state media in Pyongyang signaled that Kims government was toughening its negotiating position. It said the U.S. must make a declaration to formally end the 1950-53 Korean War, replacing the armistice that halted the conflict, for talks to proceed.

U.S. officials long have resisted formally ending the decades-old war amid concerns it would pressure Washington to remove its military forces from South Korea.

The White House has considered a declaration for declaration proposal, in which the United States would agree to formally end the war in exchange for Pyongyang producing a detailed inventory of nuclear equipment and arsenal that U.N. inspectors could then verify. But North Korea has resisted that, indicating it was not prepared to disclose those details.

Without any trust in the U.S., there will be no confidence in our national security, and under such circumstances there is no way we will unilaterally disarm ourselves first, Ri said at the U.N. last week.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in then suggested a compromise. In exchange for the U.S. end-of-war declaration, he offered, North Korea would agree to dismantle its vast Yongbyon nuclear facility. Kim had pledged to shut the facility, or at least parts of it, in a summit with Moon last month.

A delegation of South Korean legislators, in Washington this week to lobby Congress and State Department officials, came away with the impression that the Trump administration was still not willing to formally end the war.

Trump has repeatedly cited tremendous progress with North Korea, citing the release of three American prisoners in May, the return of about 50 sets of human remains from the Korean War, and the absence this year of new missile or nuclear weapons tests by Pyongyang.

After the Singapore summit, Trump surprised allies  and the Pentagon  by suspending annual joint U.S. military exercises with South Korea, and even using North Koreas rhetoric in calling them war games.

But U.N. nuclear monitors and other experts say they have seen no evidence that North Korea has taken significant steps to dismantle its nuclear infrastructure or weapons facilities, and that production of fissile material that can be used as bomb fuel has not ceased.

They cannot come out of these trips anymore with broad statements of principles, Victor Cha, an Asia specialist in the George W. Bush White House, said Friday. There needs to be some actual, tangible movement on the nuclear issue.

Several U.S. experts said Kim appears increasingly determined to work only with Trump, not his deputies.

They think they can get [the] best possible deal by directly dealing with President Trump himself, said Sue Mi Terry, a former CIA analyst specializing in the Korean peninsula who is now a fellow at the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and International Studies.

They truly believe this is a once-in-lifetime opportunity that they have with Trump, Terry said. She said she believed Pompeos visit would focus almost exclusively on making arrangements for the next summit.

Trumps praise for one of the worlds most ruthless and brutal dictators has jarred even some of the presidents supporters.

Im worried that were being played here, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said this week. So Im telling President Trump: Enough with I love you. This is not a guy to love. ... From my point of view, this love crap needs to stop.

The administration also has come under pressure to ease economic sanctions, including those that have targeted trade of fuel and minerals.

Russia and China have begun allowing some shipments into North Korea in what critics say are violations of U.N. Security Council sanctions. At the General Assembly, Russia announced it intended to continue to do so while Pompeo said there would be no sanctions relief until denuclearization occurs.

tracy.wilkinson@latimes.com

For more on international affairs, follow @TracyKWilkinson on Twitter
A police officer who kills without sufficient cause should be held accountable, so there is reason to feel some satisfaction and relief that a jury on Friday found Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke guilty of murder and aggravated battery in the shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald on Oct. 20, 2014.

Satisfaction, because it had long seemed that the deck in this case was stacked against justice. Chicago Police Department reports said McDonald swung a knife at officers; they called the shooting justified. Video of the incident was withheld for more than year. When it was finally released  as a result of a journalists lawsuit  the public was able to see images that differed sharply from the police account.

And why relief? In part because after repeated high-profile police killings of young black men (many unarmed) that shocked the public conscience but were officially deemed justified or ended in acquittals, it became necessary to question whether any of our institutions of justice were up to the challenge of ensuring fairness and safety without regard to race  and indeed whether they ever ever would be.

The task is to find a way to prevent shootings, and not merely to punish them.

Advertisement

There is cause for satisfaction and relief  but no glee. It may be the case that Van Dyke was, as some have alleged, part of a racist and murderous police culture that finally got its comeuppance. But it is at least equally likely that the Chicago Police Department, the politicians with influence over it and the institutions that oversee it created a system and culture of policing that gives guns to people who shouldnt have them and provides insufficient training not just in handling life-threatening encounters, but in judgment and self-awareness about ingrained fears and racial attitudes. The 16 shots that Van Dyke fired could as easily be a mark of incompetence or poor training as malice toward McDonald.

Which it is makes little difference to the victim, or to other African American men shot dead by police. Nor should it make a difference in punishment of the officer. But if we are to prevent such killings in the future, it is essential to come to grips with screening, training and police tactics. It is intellectually lazy to argue that the problem with law enforcement in America is simply that we have too many racist cops who join police departments in order to mete out their visions of racial justice on the streets. There is scant evidence that police officers  today, at least  are any more racist than the rest of us. The difference is that they have guns, and official permission to use them.

Chicago has an especially notorious record of policing  unreasonable use of force against non-whites, an unwillingness to hold officers accountable for misconduct or mistakes, a dysfunctional disciplinary system and an attitude of defiance toward the public that officers are supposed to serve.

But the department is not unique. The same year McDonald was shot dead, LAPD officers killed Ezell Ford in Los Angeles. A Ferguson, Mo., officer killed Michael Brown Jr. A New York police officer on Staten Island killed Eric Garner. A Cleveland police officer killed Tamir Rice.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion 

These names and the names of others in the years since have become well-known in part because of the prevalence of video and in part because of the work of activists, who will not allow the rest of us to brush aside the disproportionate police killing of African American men. But there are many more whose names are not widely known and whose killings are not captured on video. Some were armed, as was McDonald. Many are not.

Under Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, the Justice Department no longer examines police departments that demonstrate patterns of bias. In the absence of federal oversight, it is tempting to measure justice by tallying the rare prosecutions and even rarer guilty verdicts of police officers such as Van Dyke.

But just as we cannot solely arrest and prosecute our way out of crime  although arrests and prosecutions will play their part  we cannot arrest and prosecute our way out of police violence. The task is to find a way to prevent shootings, and not merely to punish them.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
A bit over a month is left before the midterms, and I want to pose a question to any of my fellow Americans who might be tempted to sit out the vote. Do you not fully realize that the nation faces a crucial moment in its history, when all that stands between democracy and the abyss is citizen commitment and participation? Is it not clear that every vote can be an indispensable check to Donald Trumps toxic misrule?

My questions are prompted by memories of another election that took place 30 years ago in Chile, the country I then called my own. That plebiscite would decide, like the November election in the United States, the fate of a people.

On Oct. 5, 1988, a referendum was held to determine if Gen. Augusto Pinochet, the dictator whose 1973 military coup had overthrown Chiles constitutional government, should be allowed to stay in power.

At the time, it seemed mind-boggling that such an omnipotent and astute tyrant could be ousted using the ballot box. Indeed, most international observers  and many Chileans  did not think such a feat could be achieved given the terror and control exercised by Pinochet. Nor did the general himself believe he could lose, which is why he had agreed to the plebiscite in the first place.

Advertisement

Against the odds, 56% of the country told Pinochet he could no longer afflict us.

All national and local government posts were in the hands of the general and his civilian allies. The Congress and the Senate had been abolished. Craven judicial appointees did the dictators bidding. The economy was dominated by the old oligarchy allied with newly minted millionaires who used Pinochets deregulatory policies to create voracious cartels, looting the land and generating vast swaths of deprivation. Major newspapers, radio and television stations toed the official line; censorship strangled independent voices.

Most daunting of all, however, was the pervasive fear the regime cultivated. How could a populace that, for 15 interminable years, had suffered and witnessed widespread executions, massive torture, the exile and disappearance of dissidents, how could men and women who knew that a mere murmur of criticism could entail pain and perhaps death, be expected to contest the all-encompassing terror that plagued them?

The peoples dread was no abstraction. I have never forgotten my encounter with an old woman in a shantytown on the outskirts of Santiago just before the election. Like many other volunteers across Chile, I was part of a spirited effort to make sure people were aware how much each voice and vote mattered. That afternoon, the woman responded warily to my knock on her makeshift door, only inviting me in once she made sure nobody in the vicinity was watching. With the typical hospitality of the poor, she offered me a cup of tea with generous spoonfuls of sugar that she could ill afford.

When I was done explaining that nobody would ever know what she resolved in the secret of the voting booth, she was silent for a while and then: He knows, she said. He has an eye inside the place where we vote, he knows everything we do. And hell take away my fonolita  her roof. Even so, as I rose to leave, her voice dropped to a whisper and she breathed into my ear a message of defiance: Ill vote against him. I wont waste my one chance to be heard.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion 

A few days later, that woman joined almost 4 million other Chileans who voted no and defeated the dictatorship. Against the odds, 56% of the country told Pinochet he could no longer afflict us. It would not be easy, he would continue to be commander in chief of the army for another decade, but we could start the long, hard process of restoring our democracy.

That night, accompanied by my wife and our two sons, and surrounded by friends and neighbors, I danced in the streets of Santiago, a celebration repeated in towns and cities all over the country.

In retrospect, our triumph was not as strange and improbable as we had feared. It came out of a deeply democratic tradition that had been merely interrupted by the military coup. It came out of the struggle, sacrifice and hard work of hundreds of thousands of activists over the years, creating a safe space for people like the shantytown woman to express themselves. Their steadfast efforts and her kind of courage combined to make it clear that something as apparently inconsequential as one persons hand marking a ballot, one word of hope whispered and acted upon, could change the course and curse of history.

It is this story that I invoke today as the United States faces a historic moment of reckoning. Id like to believe that the citizens of the country of Lincoln and Rosa Parks, in easier and less threatening circumstances than those in Chile 30 years ago, are as courageous and devoted to freedom as that woman in Santiago. She had everything to lose, and yet managed to conquer her fear and doubts. I cannot believe, will not let myself believe, that we will not be dancing in the streets of Americas cities and towns on the night of Nov. 6, with the end of the Trump nightmare finally in sight.

Ariel Dorfman, an emeritus professor of literature at Duke University, is the author of Death and the Maiden and a new novel, Darwins Ghosts.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook
Amid the passions of the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation battle and the sexual assault allegations by psychologist Christine Blasey Ford, the topic of false accusations has become particularly incendiary. A professor at USC came under attack last week for bringing it up when a school-wide email from a campus womens group invited a dialogue on sexual violence and urged people to believe survivors. In reply, engineering professor James Moore cautioned against automatic belief, stressing due process and noting that accusers sometimes lie. The response was a torrent of hostile emails, a campus rally calling for Moores firing, and a message from the dean condemning his insensitive comment.

It is a fact, of course, that accusers sometimes lie. Notorious instances include the 2014 Rolling Stone story of a University of Virginia fraternity gang rape that never happened and the 2006-2007 Duke University case in which three lacrosse team members were falsely accused of gang-raping an exotic dancer. But is this such a rare problem that it should not deter us from believing any woman who says she was sexually assaulted? Or is the risk of false accusation real enough that we must keep it in mind when responding to such accounts?

The answer is complicated.

Conventional wisdom among progressives minimizes the issue. In a recent tweet, Caroline Orr, a writer/editor for the website Shareblue Media, says that #BelieveWomen makes sense because sexual assault really IS that common & false accusations really ARE that rare. Others point out that studies show only 2% to 8% of police reports of rape are false. A much-circulated 2017 Quartz article by writer Sandra Newman, who has analyzed false allegations, concludes that if a woman who is not a known liar tells a story of sexual assault with no wildly implausible details, you can just assume its true. Newman also suggests that false rape accusations almost never have serious consequences because there are few cases of men being convicted on charges that are later exposed as false. (She cites the National Registry of Exonerations and a comprehensive British study of sexual assault reports.)

Advertisement

Believe women is a powerful rallying cry, but it is no substitute for due diligence.

Yet in reality, no one knows what percentage of sexual assault accusations are false. The 2% to 8% figure refers to cases in which police  or campus investigators  conclude that no crime occurred, either because there is evidence of fabrication or because the accuser recants. But such definitive evidence is rare, and it doesnt mean all the other accusations are true. Justice Department reports show that more than a quarter of defendants arrested on charges of sexual assault or rape are not prosecuted because there is not enough evidence; of those who are prosecuted, about 1 in 4 have the charges dismissed and about 3% are acquitted. Feminist rhetoric tends to interpret these statistics as rapists going free; but surely at least some cases involve wrongly accused men.

Sometimes, credible-sounding claims of sexual assault are exposed as false only because there is a video recording. Just this week, four California dentists recently charged with raping an intoxicated woman at a Las Vegas hotel were exonerated by a cellphone video that confirmed their claim of consensual sex. Last year, a Shiprock, N.M., woman was charged with perjury after she accused her boyfriend of forcing himself on her but recanted once she was told he had a video.

Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion 

Things are further complicated by the fact that today, accusations can be made online and amplified in the media even if no evidence is adjudicated. Add to that the shifting definitions of sexual assault and rape. Are you too drunk to consent if your judgment is impaired but you can walk, talk, text and initiate sex? (Title IX campus proceedings frequently hold male students responsible in such situations.) Can you retroactively decide that an awkward encounter in which you never said no was nonconsensual? Given such confusion, some may be wrongly accused because of a gray-area experience reinterpreted as assault.

In todays ugly discourse, the issue of false accusations brings out some blatantly misogynistic rhetoric, even from women. In a piece bashing Ford, conservative columnist Megan Fox declared that most women lie and scheme due to hormones and insecurity. Thats vile, just as blanket male-bashing is vile.

But some women, like some men, do evil and irrational things. And while few men may go to prison due to wrongful accusations, such accusations are not harmless: consequences can include a frightening legal ordeal, expulsion from college, job loss, unending reputation damage. Any insistence on presumptively believing all accusers will almost certainly hurt innocent defendants; such a directive in England has already led to several botched cases and a massive review of sexual assault prosecutions.

The conundrum of he said/she said may never be solved. The best we can do is take each accusation seriously and judge it on its individual merits. Believe women is a powerful rallying cry, but it is no substitute for due diligence. And calls to disregard the risk of wrongful allegations are illiberal and dangerous.

Cathy Young is a contributing editor to Reason and the author of Ceasefire: Why Women and Men Must Join Forces to Achieve True Equality.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook
To the editor: Ive always been intrigued by the inspiring story of how the Danish people, with the help of one German bureaucrat and the Swedes, saved almost all their Jewish countrymen. Why were they so successful when other European lovers of freedom (France and the Netherlands, to name two countries) were not? I especially loved the story of the Danish king wearing the Star of David, even though I knew it was a myth, as it captured the Danish spirit of heroism and charity.

Several years ago I traveled to Copenhagen and couldnt wait to visit the Danish Jewish Museum to find some answers to my questions. What I learned was this: The Danes were a very integrated society, so before World War II the Jews were their neighbors, friends and relatives. When they saved the Jews, they were defending their people.

And Georg Duckwitz, the halfhearted Nazi, reminds us that one person has great power to save many lives even when confronted by great evil. His descendants and the Danish and Swedish people will forever be proud of their miracle.

Linda Mele Johnson, Long Beach

Advertisement

..

To the editor: Many thanks for the amazing op-ed article by Richard Hurowitz on the the rescue of the Danish Jews during the Nazi occupation of their country.

It is the only time in recent memory that I have read anything so uplifting and completely devoid of the rancor that often appears on the Los Angeles Times op-ed page.

Carl Rosenfeld, Indio

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
On Sept. 16, when Brett Kavanaughs confirmation as a Supreme Court justice seemed assured, the Washington Post published an article that identified Christine Blasey Ford as the writer of a letter accusing Kavanaugh of sexual assault 36 years ago.

Thats also when women started sending letters to the Los Angeles Times about their own assaults, many of which happened several decades ago, according to the writers. Since Ford identified herself as Kavanaughs accuser, a few dozen women recounting their assaults by men have been among the hundreds of writers who shared their opinions on the Supreme Court nominee. Many of these writers asked for anonymity (and generally, The Times does not print unsigned letters).

A few of those signed letters have been published. Now, with the confirmation process winding down and Kavanaugh all but guaranteed a seat on the Supreme Court, and with President Trump declaring that men today risk having their lives ruined by false allegations of rape and other crimes, here is a selection of the letters sent to us over the last few weeks by women who say they were sexually assaulted or subjected to other forms of misconduct.

And wrongly accused men? Since Ford came forward last month, prompting many women to write about the assaults theyve endured, one male reader has written to us to say he was the subject of a false allegation.

Advertisement

Joan Ribeck of Altadena writes:

In 1973, while I was hitchhiking to work, a man raped me twice and almost killed me. I immediately reported it, and an officer tried to tell me that I had asked for it.

I told him that I had put my earring under the seat so my attacker could be identified easily. It was years before they found the earring, and I never got my day in court.

As I watched the Kavanaugh hearing on Sept. 27, I cried and grew outraged that our elected officials are willing to go so far to obscure the truth and seat this nominee on the Supreme Court. The mens club of abuse is on trial, and all women are waiting to see if our leaders are fit to serve.

For those women who defend them, shame on you.

Rochelle Caddick of Grass Valley, Calif., writes:

Some say that for assaults that happened long ago, the perpetrator might have changed and should therefore not be punished.

When I was 11 or 12 years old, I was assaulted. Last year I opened up to my family and friends about it. My brain blocked the memories all those years. Due to recent events, a Pandoras box was opened, and effects of the assault started to show.

I avoid certain places because, though my attacker has changed, my fear and anxiety are triggered by the memory of his presence. When I told my family about this, they pointed out that the man who assaulted me has by now almost certainly changed.

Our society does this too often. We dismiss what happened years ago. We dont stop to consider the lifelong effect assault has on the survivor. We make excuses  oh, but he was drunk. So? We hold drunk drivers accountable.

When excuses are made as to why the assaulter shouldnt face a penalty because so much time has passed, it hurts. It tells me the memories, the pain, the burden I have to carry for the rest of my life do not matter. It tells me that the person who assaulted me is worth more.

Jocelyn DeVault of Newbury Park writes:

There seems to be a lot of confusion as to why sexual assault victims do not call the police immediately. I can tell you why.

I was assaulted five times starting when I was 6 or 7 years old (and no, I do not remember the dates), and even at that age, I felt like I was doing something wrong.

As a woman now in her mid-50s, I felt an acceptance that this is what boys and men do. I never had therapy and didnt feel a need for it.

I now see how sad and pathetic that was.

Natalie Kolosow of Cypress writes:

I was raped at the age of 28, and I went to court to testify against the rapist. I was not deterred even though his lawyer was unrelenting with his questioning and the attackers mother threatened me.

Everyone needs to take responsibility for what happens to them. You dont like what you see or what is going on, then leave and report it.

Girls supposedly mature faster than boys. This is what I was told in school, but do they? It is time for everyone to accept what they have done in the past and present without putting blame on someone else.

Barbara Terrill of Monrovia writes:

More than 50 years ago, as an 18-year-old college freshman, I managed to get away from a young man who wasnt about to take no for an answer. I was late for curfew at the dorm and was disciplined for tardiness, even after telling my story.

As a 20-year-old employee at a manufacturing company, I was summoned to the boss office and was then grabbed and pulled down onto his lap, where he started kissing me against my will. I hurried out of his office but never said anything. I was afraid Id lose my job.

While teaching middle school, I was subjected to really lewd, sexually explicit joking by a fellow teacher. I asked him several times to stop doing it around me. He didnt, so I reported him. He had the nerve to come back and ask me why Id reported him.

In the intervening years, I have tried to teach my daughters and the young women I came in contact with how important it is to speak out. Some of them have  but some of them havent.

It is disheartening to me that so little progress has been made. It is equally disheartening to hear some women dismiss the stories of other women.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
Former Vice President Joe Biden accused President Trumps Republican allies in Congress of choosing party over country as he campaigned in Orange County for Democrats running for the U.S. House.

The truth itself is being thrown aside in favor of a cultish devotion to the whims of one man, Biden told hundreds of campaign volunteers Thursday at a Cal State Fullerton rally, citing the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Look at the behavior of Republican senators during the recent testimony of Judge Kavanaugh. Look at the behavior of this president every day, he said. Lies have never been more brazen. Blind rage and brute partisanship has never been more palpable.

Biden, a leading contender for his partys 2020 presidential nomination, was joined by four Democrats running in Orange County  Gil Cisneros, Katie Porter, Harley Rouda and Mike Levin  and another, TJ Cox, who is trying to unseat Republican Rep. David Valadao in the San Joaquin Valley.

Advertisement

Biden framed the Nov. 6 midterm election as a battle for Americas soul, urging voters to put a check on the president.

Heres the good news: The folks standing with me here today, in a Democratically controlled Congress, are going to be able to take this president on, said Biden, who served 36 years in the Senate.

The event followed a similar rally former President Obama held last month in Anaheim with half a dozen California Democrats running for Congress.

California is one of the nations main election battlegrounds as Democrats try to pick up the 23 seats needed to take control of the House. Their targets include seven now held by Republicans in districts that Trump lost in the 2016 presidential election.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, center, with Democratic House candidates Mike Levin, left, Harley Rouda, Katie Porter, TJ Cox and Gil Cisneros at Cal State Fullerton. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

Biden attacked GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa for his friendly posture toward Russia. He called Rohrabachers Democratic challenger, Rouda, a fighter for California, not an apologist for the Kremlin.

Biden also berated Trump for his equivocation last year when neo-Nazis marched in Charlottesville, Va., chanting the same exact anti-Semitic bile heard in the streets of Nuremberg in the 30s. He went on to conflate their ideology with Trump administration policies.

Years ago, they stood like cowards behind sprays of fire hoses and flames of burning crosses, he said. Today, they call refugees animals, prop up immigrants as a source of all our problems. They abide the sight of infants being ripped from the arms of their mothers on the border.

The rally comes at an awkward moment for Biden. The divisive drama over sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh has revived criticism of how Biden led the Judiciary Committees hearings in 1991 on the Supreme Court nomination of Clarence Thomas.

Biden, 75, has apologized for the way the all-male committee treated Anita Hill, who accused Thomas of sexual harassment. Senators subjected her to aggressive and embarrassing interrogations, and witnesses were blocked from testifying on her behalf.

In Fullerton, Biden called the Violence Against Women Act that he co-sponsored in 1994 the proudest thing Ive ever done it in my life. The law funded programs to prevent domestic and sexual violence against women.

He also recalled Obama administration efforts to combat sexual violence on college campuses.

Guys, let me get something straight with you, he said. Not a joke  Im not kidding. Its your responsibility as much as its anybody elses responsibility.

Eric Bauman, the state Democratic chairman, said he doubted that new reminders of Bidens admitted missteps in the Thomas hearings would affect his strong standing among party voters as the 2020 presidential campaign nears.

I think hes still riding pretty high, Bauman said. Some people were reminded of Anita Hill, but it also gives him a story to tell about growth. People have realized how bad our attitudes toward women were and how much better we have to do.

michael.finnegan@latimes.com

Twitter: @finneganLAT

maya.sweedler@latimes.com

Twitter: @mayasweedler
Remember Anonymous?

A month ago, an unsigned op-ed in the New York Times portrayed President Trump as an incompetent surrounded by officials, like the unnamed writer, determined to thwart his worst instincts. The writing enraged the president, dominated headlines and could, commentators said, affect the midterm elections.

Sic transit gloria mundi. The memory of Anonymous has dissipated, blown away by the weeks of controversy over Judge Brett Kavanaughs nomination to the Supreme Court. That battle has angered and energized the presidents supporters, dominated headlines and could, commentators say, affect the midterm elections.

Perhaps it will. The most recent polls do indicate a boost for Republicans in some Senate contests, and Trumps overall approval rating  a key measure for the elections  has risen in at least one survey. But like presidential debates, political conventions and op-eds, the impact of news events  even big news events  tends to fade with time; election day remains just over a month away.

Advertisement

Sign up for the Essential Politics newsletter 

KAVANAUGH CLOSURE

The Senates vote on Friday morning to close debate on the Kavanaugh nomination sets up a final vote for the weekend, with the outcome still in doubt. At least one key voter, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, announced before the cloture roll call that she would vote to move the nomination forward, but would announce later in the day whether she would vote for Kavanaughs confirmation. With Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voting against cloture and saying she would oppose the nomination, Collins holds the deciding vote.

For the past couple of weeks, the drama over the nomination has played out for three audiences: a handful of undecided senators, a restless president and the voting public.

The senators who remained undeclared on Friday morning Republicans Collins, Murkowski and Jeff Flake of Arizona and Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia have voiced a range of concerns about the nomination.

Flake, who voted for cloture, mostly has worried about public acceptance of the nominee and the process leading up to his confirmation.

Im a conservative; hes a conservative judge, the senator said last Friday after he forced the White House and the Senates Republican leadership to reopen the FBI investigation of Kavanaughs background.

I wanted to support him, he said. But I want a process we can be proud of. I think the country needs to be behind it.

During the week, as White House limits on the inquiry generated additional controversy, Flake intervened again, pushing White House counsel Don McGahn to allow the FBI a freer rein. In the end, the bureau contacted 10 witnesses and interviewed nine, and Flake appeared satisfied.

Republican leaders didnt want Flake to slow down the nomination, but he may have done them a favor. Democrats harshly criticized the FBI investigation as too limited, but the fact that the bureau interviewed at least the key witnesses and did not find evidence to corroborate the accusations of sexual misconduct against Kavanaugh gave Republicans a stronger argument.

Flakes comments on Thursday, signaling acceptance of the FBI report, were a main reason that White House officials expressed confidence that they had gotten through the worst of the battle.

By contrast with Flake, Collins and Murkowski are relative moderates.

Collins main concern, as set out in her public statements, has involved abortion. She wanted assurances that Kavanaugh would not rush to overturn Roe v. Wade. Although she did not reveal her vote in advance, she has said several times that Kavanaughs statements on that score had reassured her.

Murkowski also supports abortion rights. In addition, she won crucial support for her last reelection from Alaska native tribes, who opposed Kavanaugh because of some of his rulings as an appeals court judge. She has less reason than others to fear anger from the GOP right wing, having won last time as a write-in candidate after losing a Republican primary.

Manchin is a Democrat running for reelection in a state that Trump carried by 42 percentage points. He cast the 51st vote for cloture, but also left uncertain how he will vote on the confirmation.

Kavanaugh this week needed to win over at least two of the undeclared senators. He also had to keep satisfying Trump, who, at several points during the last two weeks, distanced himself from the nominee.

I dont even know him. I met him for the first time a few weeks ago, Trump said at a rally in Mississippi this week.

White House aides said that Trump wanted to see Kavanaugh fight to defend himself. That may have contributed to Kavanaughs angry, emotional performance before the Judiciary Committee, which delighted Trump but dismayed Flake and others.

Former Justice John Paul Stevens, now 98, cited Kavanaughs comments to the committee when he told an audience in Florida this week that he had changed his mind about Kavanaugh and now opposed his confirmation. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota also cited Kavanaughs statements on Thursday when she announced her vote against him.

As David Savage wrote, Kavanaughs angry testimony risked undercutting his claims of being an impartial jurist.

As for the public at large, the final weeks of the controversy appear to have solidified partisan feelings on both sides. Overall support for Kavanaugh seems to have declined a bit, but the intensity of Republican support has gone up.

Anger provides a powerful motivation for voting and until now, the Democrats had almost all the anger on their side in this years midterm election. Now the GOP has some as well. That could matter  if it lasts.

In the short term, because anger matters, whichever side loses the final vote might benefit politically. In the longer term, of course, Supreme Court justices can affect policy for many more years than the outcome of a single midterm election.

Meantime, as Savage reported, the Supreme Court opened its new term on a quiet note, with eight justices hearing arguments, waiting for a ninth colleague to join them.

DECISION CALIFORNIA  MIDTERM OUTLOOK

With fewer than five weeks to go in the midterm campaign, Republicans face a serious risk of a wipeout in California, according to polls in eight congressional districts conducted for The Times by UC Berkeleys Institute for Governmental Studies.

In the six districts that the two parties have contested most intensely, Republicans dont have a single candidate in the lead, the polls found. Those contested districts include four in Orange County, one in northern Los Angeles County and one centered on Modesto in the Central Valley.

But the polls also showed most of the races very close. Theres only one in which the Democratic candidate has a strong lead. If the Democratic tide ebbs just a little, Republicans could easily hold on.

The Berkeley-IGS Poll uses an innovative technique that some pollsters think may be the wave of the future in polling. Read our description of how it works.

Two of the close contests involve incumbent Republican Reps. Dana Rohrabacher and Jeff Denham. Joe Mozingo and Jazmine Ulloa teamed up to look at the contrasting ways the two deal with Trumps controversial policies on immigration.

Another very close contest involves Democratic candidate Gil Cisneros. Hes been dogged by an accusation of sexual harassment. This week, though, the woman who made the accusation retracted it, saying it was a misunderstanding, Christine Mai-Duc reported.

One contest that doesnt seem close is the Senate race between incumbent Sen. Dianne Feinstein and state Sen. Kevin de Leon, both Democrats. Sarah Wire took a comprehensive look at where the two stand on major issues.

THE NATIONAL MIDTERM OUTLOOK

Beto ORourke has captured the imagination of liberal Democrats from Santa Monica to Brooklyn. But can he capture the attention of Latino voters in Texas, where hes seeking to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz? Evan Halper traveled to Texas to check in on one of this years most watched campaigns.

And Noah Bierman headed for Oklahoma, where Sen. Elizabeth Warren was visiting her home state. The Massachusetts senator sounds increasingly like a presidential candidate ready to get back in the fight, Bierman reported.

CLEARING THE DECKS FOR A FIGHT WITH CHINA

As Don Lee reported, the U.S. and Canada reached a last-minute agreement on an updated version of NAFTA, the trade agreement that links the two countries and Mexico.

Trump, who had repeatedly denounced NAFTA, called the agreement a new model for trade, but many trade experts see it as a fairly modest update.

As Jim Puzzanghera wrote, provisions covering the auto industry were a major U.S. focus, but analysts say the changes will have limited impact. Californias wine industry hopes to benefit by uncorking Canadas market, Geoff Mohan wrote.

A big reason why the administration came to terms on NAFTA: Trump had picked too many trade fights at once. Officials want to resolve most of them so they can focus on the big one  China.

Vice President Mike Pence laid out the administrations case against China in a speech Thursday in which he ramped up charges of Chinese meddling in the U.S., Lee wrote.

THE BEST OF THE REST

The administration has stopped issuing visas to same-sex partners of foreign diplomats unless they are married, Tracy Wilkinson reported. Officials defend the policy as equal treatment  now that same-sex marriage is legal, gay couples shouldnt need special treatment, they say.

Critics note that many countries in Asia, Africa and the Middle East continue to ban same-sex marriages, and warn that diplomats from those countries will face retaliation. About 105 foreign diplomatic couples will immediately be affected, the State Department estimates, of whom 55 work for international organizations based in the U.S.

Workers health costs continue to rise, eroding wages, Noam Levey wrote, citing new survey data.

Federal investigators found many failures in the administrations family separation policy, according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office. GAO auditors said the Homeland Security department was unprepared to handle the policy, Evan Halper wrote.

WHATS IN A NAME?

David Cloud reported from Poland, where officials are trying to tempt Trump to build a permanent military base for U.S. troops. The Pentagon doesnt like the idea, fearing a multi-billion price tag and increased tensions with Russia. But Polish officials, playing to the presidents vanity, have offered to name the base Fort Trump.

LOGISTICS

That wraps up this week. Until next time, keep track of all the developments in national politics and the Trump administration with our Essential Washington blog, at our Politics page and on Twitter @latimespolitics.

Send your comments, suggestions and news tips to politics@latimes.com.

If you like this newsletter, tell your friends to sign up.

david.lauter@latimes.com

@davidlauter
Allies balk at Trump administration bid to block Chinese firm from cutting-edge telecom markets By David S. Cloud Britain and Germany are balking at the Trump administrations call for a ban on equipment from Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, threatening a global U.S. campaign to thwart Chinas involvement in future mobile networks. Both countries are expected to limit Huawei and other Chinese companies from providing core components including routers. But other types of Chinese equipment for next-generation, high-speed communications could still be installed on British and German networks, officials and analysts say. The U.S. push to ban Huawei has provoked a global dispute in recent weeks, with senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, publicly urging NATO allies in Europe to exclude the company and warning that the United States might limit its military presence in countries that did not do so. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Confucius Institutes: Do they improve U.S.-China ties or harbor spies? By Don Lee Hanging red lanterns welcome visitors to the University of Marylands Confucius Institute, the oldest of about 100 Chinese language and cultural centers that have popped up over the last 15 years on American campuses, subsidized by millions of dollars from Chinas central government. But last fall, when four U.S. Senate investigators walked into the Confucius offices in Maryland and spent hours questioning staff, they werent looking for an educational exchange. The committee has been seeking detailed information from the university about the program, including contracts, email exchanges and financial arrangements that school administrators have kept under wraps since it started in 2004. American colleges once viewed these jointly funded institutes as an economical way to expand their language offerings  one that could also bring warmer ties with China and, importantly, an influx of Chinese international students paying full tuition. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Watch Live: White House holds surprise news briefing amid government shutdown Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

U.S. policy toward China shifts from engagement to confrontation By David S. Cloud For decades, China had no closer American friend than Dianne Feinstein. As San Francisco mayor in the 1970s, she forged a sister-city relationship with Shanghai, the first between American and Chinese communities. As U.S. senator, she dined with Chinese leaders at Mao Tse-tungs old Beijing residence. And in the 1990s, she championed a trade policy change that opened a floodgate of Western investment into China. Today the Democratic senator sees China as a growing threat, joining a broad array of Trump administration officials, national security strategists and business executives who once favored engagement with Beijing and now advocate a confrontational approach instead. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Mnuchins attempt to calm markets backfires as Trump takes another shot at the Federal Reserve By Jim Puzzanghera An attempt by Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin to calm plunging financial markets backfired Monday, further rattling investors with new fears about whether major U.S. banks have enough cash on top of worries about interest rates, political instability in Washington and a slowing global economy. Adding to the volatile mix was a fresh attack on the Federal Reserve by President Trump, who declared that the central bank was the U.S. economys only problem and that it didnt have a feel for the market. The Fed is like a powerful golfer who cant score because he has no touch -- he cant putt! Trump said on Twitter. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

He speaks to Democratic hearts. But is Beto ORourke a serious White House contender? By Mark Z. Barabak Hes a failed U.S. Senate candidate with an undistinguished congressional record who, for the moment, is a blazing-hot 2020 presidential prospect  despite the fact that he may not run and faces long odds if he does. Beto ORourke suggests the will-he-or-wont-he speculation is something he himself cant quite fathom. I think thats a great question, he responded in a Dallas Morning News interview when asked whether his unsuccessful November Senate bid merited a promotion to the White House. I ask that question myself. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Russian disinformation teams targeted Robert S. Mueller III, says report prepared for Senate By Craig Timberg, Tony Romm, Elizabeth Dwoskin Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. (Associated Press) Months after President Trump took office, Russias disinformation teams trained their sites on a new target: special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Having worked to help get Trump into the White House, they now worked to neutralize the biggest threat to his staying there. The Russian operatives unloaded on Mueller through fake accounts on Facebook, Twitter and beyond, falsely claiming that the former FBI director was corrupt and that the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election were crackpot conspiracies. One post on Instagram  which emerged as an especially potent weapon in the Russian social media arsenal  claimed that Mueller had worked in the past with radical Islamic groups. Such tactics exemplified how Russian teams ranged nimbly across social media platforms in a shrewd online influence operation aimed squarely at American voters. The effort started earlier than commonly understood and lasted longer while relying on the strengths of different sites to manipulate distinct slices of the electorate, according to a pair of comprehensive new reports prepared for the Senate Intelligence Committee and released Monday. Read more Timberg, Romm and Dwoskin report for the Washington Post. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

President Trump announces Mick Mulvaney as acting White House chief of staff By Associated Press President Trump says budget director Mick Mulvaney will serve as acting chief of staff, replacing John F. Kelly in the new year. I am pleased to announce that Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management & Budget, will be named Acting White House Chief of Staff, replacing General John Kelly, who has served our Country with distinction. Mick has done an outstanding job while in the Administration....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2018 Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

It aint over when its over: In Michigan, Wisconsin and elsewhere, losers seek to undermine election results By Mark Z. Barabak Democrat Gavin Newsom has yet to become California governor, but already a candidate for state Republican Party chairman is promoting a recall effort. In Michigan and Wisconsin, GOP lawmakers have rushed through legislation to thwart their incoming Democratic governors and hamper others in the opposing party from doing the jobs voters chose them to do. In Congress, GOP leaders have echoed President Trump and sought to undermine the legitimacy of Democrats strong midterm performance, raising unsubstantiated allegations of fraud and political malfeasance. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

New CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger says she wont be a puppet of Mick Mulvaney By Jim Puzzanghera On her first full day leading the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Kathy Kraninger said she wont be a puppet of Mick Mulvaney, the controversial acting director whom she replaced in the powerful regulatory position. To underscore that point, the former White House aide said she would even reconsider a Mulvaney action that critics saw as a gratuitous jab at Democrats who championed the agencys creation: changing its name to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Kraningers declaration during a meeting with reporters Tuesday addressed one of the main criticisms of her selection. She is considered a protege of Mulvaney, her boss at the White House Office of Management and Budget who has executed a dramatic, industry-friendly shift at the watchdog agency. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trumps pick for chief of staff, Nick Ayers, out of running By Associated Press Nick Ayers, right, with Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, at the funeral service for George H.W. Bush on Dec. 3. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Associated Press) President Trumps top pick to replace John F. Kelly as chief of staff, Nick Ayers, is no longer expected to fill that role. Thats according to a White House official who is not authorized to discuss the personnel issue by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. Ayers is Vice President Mike Pences chief of staff. The official says that Trump and Ayers could not agree on Ayers length of service. The father of young children, Ayers had agreed to serve in an interim capacity though the spring, but Trump wanted a two-year commitment. The official says that Ayers will instead assist the president from outside the administration. Trump announced Saturday that Kelly would be departing the White House around the end of the year. Thank you @realDonaldTrump, @VP, and my great colleagues for the honor to serve our Nation at The White House. I will be departing at the end of the year but will work with the #MAGA team to advance the cause.  #Georgia  Nick Ayers (@nick_ayers) December 9, 2018 Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

U.S. hiring slows to 155,000 jobs, unemployment rate holds at 3.7% By Jim Puzzanghera Job growth slowed significantly in November but still was solid, indicating the economy remains in good shape but not expanding so quickly that it will lead to sharply higher interest rates. U.S. employers added 155,000 jobs last month, well below analyst expectations and a steep decline from Octobers strong 237,000 figure, the Labor Department reported Friday. Still, monthly job gains are averaging 206,000 this year, the best since 2015. Even the slower pace of 170,000 over the last three months is close to last years average of 182,000 and well above the amount needed to keep up with population growth. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump is expected to pick State Department spokeswoman for U.N. ambassador By Associated Press Heather Nauert at a briefing at the State Department on Aug. 9, 2017. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) President Trump is expected to nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Two administration officials confirmed Trumps plans. A Republican congressional aide said the president was expected to announce his decision by tweet on Friday morning. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly before Trumps announcement. Trump has previously said Nauert was under serious consideration to replace Nikki Haley, who announced in October that she would step down at the end of this year. Trump has been known to change course on staffing decisions in the past. Nauert was a reporter for Fox News Channel before she became State Department spokeswoman under former Secretary Rex Tillerson. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Senate confirms new consumer financial protection chief: Kathy Kraninger, protege of industry-friendly Mick Mulvaney By Jim Puzzanghera The Senate, in a party-line vote Thursday, confirmed White House aide Kathy Kraninger to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and experts predicted a continuation of the industry-friendly shift it has taken since President Trump installed an acting director last year. Kraninger is a protege of acting director and White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney, an outspoken critic of the agency that was created in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis to prevent predatory lending and other abuses that led to it. Democrats and consumer advocates have denounced him for sharply departing from the aggressive watchdog role the bureau had pursued under its first director, Obama-appointee Richard Cordray, including scaling back enforcement and moving to reassess tough new rules on payday loans and narrow the definition of abusive practices by banks and other firms. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Shutdown postponed by two weeks under plan approved by Congress By Erik Wasson Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), shown at the Capitol on Tuesday, says President Trumps border wall is a waste of money. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Congress passed a two-week stopgap spending bill that will delay the chance of a partial government shutdown until Dec. 22 as lawmakers and President Donald Trump negotiate over his demands to pay for a wall on the southern border. The House and Senate passed the measure Thursday without dissent, and Trump has indicated hell sign the bill before the current shutdown deadline of midnight Friday. Negotiations were delayed by memorial services this week for former President George H.W. Bush. The temporary measure gives Democrats and Republicans more time to find a resolution to their biggest hurdle: funding a wall on the U.S. Mexico border wall. Trump says he wants $5 billion for parts of a concrete wall on the southern border and is willing to shut down the government if he doesnt get it. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has said Democrats will provide no more than $1.6 billion for border security, because the wall is a waste of money. The presidents demands for wall funding from Congress come after he said during the campaign that Mexico would pay for it. This week he said on Twitter that a $25 billion border wall would pay for itself in two months, without providing evidence. Most of the U.S. governments $1.2 trillion discretionary budget has been appropriated already by Congress for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1. Departments at a risk of a partial shutdown late this month include the departments of State, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Treasury and Homeland Security. Talks to resolve the differences have been on hold since a meeting among Trump, Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California originally slated for Dec. 4 was postponed due to Bush memorial events. The three are scheduled to meet on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby of Alabama told reporters the rest of the seven-bill spending package being negotiated is basically done. Shelby in recent weeks had tried to broker a compromise in which Trumps $5 billion request would be split over two years, but Schumer has rejected that. Some Democrats have been willing to trade border wall funding for deportation protections for young undocumented immigrants. Pelosi ruled out such a deal in remarks to reporters Thursday. The stopgap government funding measure also would extend the National Flood Insurance Program, which provides subsidized coverage for homes in flood-prone areas, to Dec. 21. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Bipartisan Senate group wants to formally blame Saudi crown prince for journalists killing By Karoun Demirjian Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires. (Associated Press) A bipartisan group of senators filed a resolution Wednesday condemning Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as responsible for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, directly challenging President Trump to do the same. This resolution -- without equivocation -- definitively states that the crown prince of Saudi Arabia was complicit in the murder of Mr. [Jamal] Khashoggi and has been a wrecking ball to the region jeopardizing our national security interests on multiple fronts, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said in a statement accompanying the release of the resolution. It will be up to Saudi Arabia as to how to deal with this matter. But it is up to the United States to firmly stand for who we are and what we believe. The resolution put forward by Graham and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who are expected to lead the Judiciary Committee together next year, comes just one day after CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed leading senators about the details of the agencys assessment that Mohammed ordered and monitored the killing and dismemberment of Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Senators emerged from that closed-door briefing furious not only with Saudi Arabia, but Trump as well for dismissing the heft of the CIAs findings. You have to be willfully blind not to come to the conclusion that this was orchestrated and organized by people under the command of MBS and that he was intricately involved in the demise of Mr. Khashoggi, Graham said following the briefing, referring to Mohammed by his initials. He added that Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Defense Secretary James N. Mattis, who briefed senators last week, were at best being good soldiers and at worst were in the pocket of Saudi Arabia for presenting the evidence of Mohammeds involvement as inconclusive. The release of the resolution condemning Mohammed also comes as the Senate is preparing to move ahead with debate on a resolution to curtail U.S. support for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. Though the Yemen resolution does not directly address Khashoggis murder, its popularity is a sign of how strained the United States patience with Saudi Arabia is on multiple fronts, including its role in worsening the civilian cost of the war in Yemen, cited by the United Nations as the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Last week, the Senate voted 63 to 37 to advance the Yemen resolution past an opening procedural hurdle. But Graham and Feinsteins resolution on the crown prince has the potential of drawing broader support, especially from Republicans, who are deeply divided about how fiercely to punish Saudi Arabia over Khashoggis killing. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has been an outspoken advocate for human rights and is seen as one of the more influential foreign policy voices in the GOP, did not vote for the Yemen resolution last week or sign on to a bipartisan measure last month to sanction Saudi officials and cease weapons transfers to the kingdom. But he is an original co-sponsor of the resolution condemning Mohammed over Khashoggis death. So is Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), who represents the other end of the GOP spectrum in terms of recent Saudi-related votes and endorsements. Young was an initial co-sponsor of the bill Graham wrote with Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) to sanction Saudi officials deemed responsible for Khashoggis killing and stop the sale of anything but exclusively defensive weapons to the kingdom until it ceased hostilities in Yemen. Young also voted to advance the Yemen resolution  something Graham did as well, though Graham has signaled he will not be lending any similar support to the measure, fearing it may establish a precedent of invoking the War Powers Act too broadly. Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) are listed as original co-sponsors of the resolution condemning Mohammed, which also urges Saudi Arabia to negotiate with Houthi rebels to end the Yemen war, work out a political solution to its standoff with Qatar and release political prisoners. But how much sway the resolution has probably comes down to how forcefully the administration decides to heed it -- and thus far, Trump has not shown any interest in condemning the crown prince the way the senators hope he will. Demirjian reports for the Washington Post. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Los Angeles County offices and U.S. Postal Service closed Wednesday in honor of George H.W. Bush By Brian Park The Honor Guard carries the casket of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush following his funeral on Dec. 5 in Washington, DC. (Doug Mills - Pool/Getty Images) The U.S. Postal Service will suspend regular mail delivery Wednesday, which President Trump has declared a national day of mourning in honor of former President George H.W. Bush. All retail postal outlets will be closed, and package delivery will be limited. In Los Angeles, all nonessential county departments, offices and libraries will be closed for the day, L.A. County officials said. The Los Angeles County Library said no overdue fines will be assessed for books, and due dates will be moved forward one week. Los Angeles County Department of Public Health offices also are closed Wednesday. The Sheriffs Department, Fire Department, clinics and hospitals will continue to operate, the county said. The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health clinics are being operated with reduced staffing, and the department asked patients to confirm or reschedule any appointments. All county courts and the disaster recovery centers for the Woolsey fire in Malibu and Agoura Hills will remain open. Larger federal government operations will be closed Wednesday. To honor the life and legacy of President Bush, the Postal Service will observe the National Day of Mourning. Learn how Postal operations will be affected. https://t.co/Mffch7bPCh pic.twitter.com/vG46BsIOpm  U.S. Postal Service (@USPS) December 4, 2018 L.A. County offices and libraries will be closed tomorrow (Dec 5) in observance of the #NationalDayOfMourning for President George H. W. Bush.



The Countys Disaster Recovery Centers in Malibu & Agoura Hills will remain open from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. pic.twitter.com/Sv1J7GoJ7T  Los Angeles County (@CountyofLA) December 4, 2018 @LAPublicHealth offices will be closed tomorrow December 5 in observance of the national Day of Mourning for President George H. W. Bush. Essential Services including clinics and other services will remain open: https://t.co/tZGoGGHRlg pic.twitter.com/ypXsV6vlYY  LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) December 4, 2018 Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to skip 2020 White House race, sources say By Associated Press Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick speaks during an interview in Boston on Dec. 15, 2014. (Elise Amendola / Associated Press) Former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts will soon announce he wont launch a 2020 presidential campaign, according to three sources familiar with his plans. They did not say why the Democrat decided against a run. A formal announcement was delayed as the country observed a day of mourning for President George H.W. Bush, one source said. News of Patricks plans was first reported by Politico. Patrick, 62, served two terms as governor, from 2007 to 2015, was assistant attorney general for civil rights in the Clinton administration and since leaving the governors office has been a managing director for Bain Capital. Patrick traveled the country in support of Democratic candidates in the recent midterm election. Earlier this year, some of Patricks supporters and close advisors started the Reason to Believe political action committee, a grassroots organization dedicated to advancing a positive, progressive vision for our nation in 2018 and 2020. Reason to Believe PAC had been holding meetups across the country, including in early presidential primary states. While Patrick is opting against a 2020 run, dozens of Democrats are considering jumping in, including nearly a half-dozen members of the Senate, several House members, and other Massachusetts politicians. On Tuesday, Michael Avenatti, the attorney for adult film star Stormy Daniels and a vocal critic of President Trump, said in a statement that he would run. Patrick had previously expressed some concerns about breaking through if he sought the nomination, telling David Axelrod, a former advisor to President Obama, that he wasnt sure he could stand out in such a large field. Its hard to see how you even get noticed in such a big, broad field without being shrill, sensational or a celebrity, and Im none of those things and Im never going to be any of those things, Patrick said in a September interview with Axelrod. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Former Trump adviser Roger Stone invokes 5th Amendment right and wont testify before Senate Judiciary Committee By Associated Press Roger Stone in 2017. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) Roger Stone, an associate of President Trump, says he wont provide testimony or documents to the Senate Judiciary Committee. An attorney for Stone said in a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the committees top Democrat, that Stone was invoking his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination in refusing to produce documents or appear for an interview. Stone has been entangled in investigations by Congress and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III about whether Trump aides had advance knowledge of Democratic emails published by WikiLeaks during the 2016 election. Stone has not been charged and has said he had no knowledge of the timing or specifics of WikiLeaks plans. In the letter to Feinstein, Stone said the committees requests were far too overbroad, far too overreaching and far too wide-ranging. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Watch live: Vice President Pence and lawmakers honor George H.W. Bush at the U.S. Capitol before he lies in state Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Rebuilding crumbling infrastructure has bipartisan support. But who gets to pay for it? By Jim Puzzanghera The grades for major U.S. infrastructure would give any parent indigestion if they were on a childs report card. Roads: D; bridges: C+; dams: D; ports: C+: railways: B; airports: D; schools: D+; public transit: D-. The nations overall grade: D+, which translates to being in fair to poor condition and mostly below standards with significant deterioration and a strong risk of failure, according to an evaluation last year by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Trump calls former lawyer Michael Cohen a weak person who is lying By Associated Press President Trump says his former lawyer Michael Cohen is lying to get a reduced sentence. The president is reacting to Cohens guilty plea Thursday to lying to Congress about work he did on a Trump real estate project in Russia. During a surprise court hearing, Cohen admitted to lying in testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee about a plan to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen in his guilty plea said he made the false statements to be consistent with Trumps political message. Cohens lawyer says he continues to cooperate with special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs investigation into Russian election interference and possible coordination with Trump associates. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

As California Republicans confront a congressional wipeout, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy faces a reckoning By Mark Z. Barabak When the House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Kevin McCarthy trooped with other Republican lawmakers to a splashy Rose Garden celebration, smiling alongside President Trump as they celebrated the moment. As majority leader, McCarthy had helped round up the votes to narrowly pass the hard-fought legislation, convincing 13 other California Republicans to go along, even though several faced tough reelection fights. Fewer than half will be returning in January. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

As California Republicans confront a congressional wipeout, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy faces a reckoning By Sarah D. Wire When the House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Kevin McCarthy trooped with other Republican lawmakers to a splashy Rose Garden celebration, smiling alongside President Trump as they celebrated the moment. As majority leader, McCarthy had helped round up the votes to narrowly pass the hard-fought legislation, convincing 13 other California Republicans to go along, even though several faced tough reelection fights. Fewer than half will be returning in January. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Michael Cohen, President Trumps ex-lawyer, pleads guilty to lying to Congress about Trump real estate project in Russia By Associated Press Michael Cohen, President Trumps former personal lawyer, pursued a Russian real estate project on candidate Trumps behalf well into the 2016 campaign, he said Thursday while pleading guilty to lying to Congress. Cohen had previously said that the project was abandoned in January 2016, but he now admits he continued to pursue a deal and says he updated Trump and members of his family about the negotiations, according to a new court document. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

James Comey says acting Atty. Gen. Whitaker may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer By John Wagner Acting Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitaker speaks at the Justice Department in Washington on Nov. 14. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press) Former FBI Director James B. Comey apparently isnt too impressed with the mental prowess of President Trumps acting attorney general. Matthew Whitaker may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer, Comey said during a radio interview on Monday night in which he sized up the man Trump installed this month to replace ousted Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions. Comey was asked by WGBH News in Boston if he thinks Whitaker could derail the investigation of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Whitaker has spoken critically of the probe, and Trump  as recently as Tuesday  continues to call it a witch hunt. I think its a worry, but to my mind not a serious worry, Comey said. The institution is too strong, and [Whitaker], frankly, is not strong enough to have that kind of impact. He may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer, but he can see his future and knows that if he acted in an extralegal way, he would go down in history for the wrong reasons, and Im sure he doesnt want that, added Comey, who was fired by Trump last year and later wrote a book that portrays the president as an ego-driven congenital liar. Whitaker, a former U.S. attorney in Iowa, was Sessions chief of staff before being picked by Trump to lead the Justice Department. Trump has called Whitaker a very smart man. Earlier this year, Trump called Comey an untruthful slime ball. Wagner writes for the Washington Post. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Interior Department watchdog clears Zinke in investigation of Utah national monument By Juliet Eilperin Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, third from the left, and Gov. Jerry Brown tour fire damage in Paradise, Calif., on Nov. 14. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) The Interior Departments Office of Inspector General has cleared Secretary Ryan Zinke in a probe of whether he redrew boundaries of a national monument in Utah to aid the financial interests of a Republican state lawmaker and stalwart supporter of President Trump. In a Nov. 21 letter to Zinkes deputy, David Bernhardt, Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall wrote that her office found no evidence that the secretary or his aides changed the boundaries of Utahs Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in an effort to help former Utah state representative Mike Noel, who serves as executive director of the Kane County Water Conservancy District. Last December, Trump shrank the monument, first established by President Clinton in 1996, by 46% based on Zinkes recommendation. Noel owns 40 acres that had been surrounded by the monument, but now lies outside its boundaries. The new boundaries also would make it easier to construct the proposed Lake Powell Pipeline, which would deliver water to sites in Kane County that include Noels property. Earlier this year, the Interior Department had proposed selling off 120 acres of federal land from the former monument that lay adjacent to some of Noels land holdings, but later reversed the plan. We found no evidence that Noel influenced the DOIs proposed revisions to the [monuments] boundaries, that Zinke or other DOI staff involved in the project were aware of Noels financial interest in the revised boundaries, or that they gave Noel any preferential treatment in the resulting proposed boundaries, Kendall wrote. Neither the Interior Department nor the inspector generals office would release the actual investigative report. In the letter, Kendall writes that her office will provide the report to Congress no sooner than 31 days from Nov. 21, when it is provided it to Zinkes office. The Associated Press first reported the inspector generals conclusions Monday night, but did not provide details from the report itself. Noel emailed Zinke about the effort to alter Grand Staircase-Escalante, according to emails released by Interior under the Freedom of Informational Act. But those emails do not make references to Noels land holdings. Noel also pushed to rename a Utah highway in honor of Trump, but abandoned that effort in March after some of his fellow Republicans objected to the idea. Noel did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday. The inspector generals office still has at least two ongoing probes of the secretary, including one focused on his real estate dealings in Whitefish, Mont., and another regarding his decision to deny a permit to two Connecticut tribes who were hoping to jointly run a casino after MGM Resorts International lobbied against it. Interior Department spokeswoman Heather Swift welcomed the watchdogs conclusions. The report shows exactly what the secretarys office has known all along  that the monument boundaries were adjusted in accordance with all rules, regulations and laws, she said in an email. This report is also the latest example of opponents and special interest groups ginning up fake and misleading stories, only to be proven false after expensive and time consuming inquiries by the IGs office. But Kendalls spokeswoman, Nancy DiPaolo, defended the inquiry, even though she said the report has not been publicly released and we will not be speaking specifically about the matter at this time. The OIG opens investigations based on credible allegations and reports our findings objectively and independently, DiPaolo added. Any time or resources spent investigating conduct or activity that may be a violation of law, regulation or policy is a service to the public, Congress and the Department. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement that he still intended to investigate the way Zinke and his colleague redrew the boundaries for Grand Staircase-Escalante and another Utah national monument, Bears Ears, next year. I have great respect for the inspector general, and I accept these findings, but Secretary Zinke should have known the people he listened to while destroying our national monuments had disqualifying conflicts of interest, he said. Should I chair the Natural Resources Committee in the next Congress, the process he and President Trump used to destroy Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante will be front and center in our oversight and investigations efforts. We need to know why they ignored overwhelming public expressions of support for both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, why they ignored Native American tribes throughout their decision-making, and why they removed protections on parcels of land with known mineral deposits. Eilperin and Rein report for the Washington Post. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump advisor Larry Kudlow says China must do more to end trade war By Jim Puzzanghera Larry Kudlow, President Trumps top economic advisor, said Tuesday that Chinas response to U.S. efforts to rework the two economic superpowers trade relationship has been extremely disappointing but the planned meeting this weekend between the nations leaders is an opportunity for a breakthrough. They have to do more. They must do more, Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council, told reporters ahead of a Saturday dinner between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 Summit in Argentina. I think the president is exactly right  to show strong backbone when prior administrations did not, to break through these Chinese walls, Kudlow said. Theyre so resistant to change. We have to protect the country. We have to protect our technology, our inventiveness, our innovation. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Watch live: White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders holds a media briefing amid tensions at the border By Los Angeles Times Staff Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Democrat TJ Cox grabs lead over Republican David Valadao in nations last remaining undecided House race By Maya Sweedler Democrat TJ Cox slipped past Republican incumbent David Valadao on Monday to take the lead in the countrys sole remaining undecided congressional race, positioning Democrats to pick up their seventh House seat in California and 40th nationwide. Cox, who trailed by nearly 4,400 votes on election night, has steadily gained as ballot counting continues nearly three weeks after the Nov. 6 election, a pattern consistent with the states recent voting history. On Monday, he pulled ahead by 438 votes after Kern County updated its results. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Former CIA director Michael Hayden hospitalized after suffering a stroke By Deanna Paul Then-CIA Director Michael Hayden testifies before a Senate committee in 2008. (Saul Loeb / Getty Images) Former CIA Director and retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke, his family said Friday. He is receiving expert medical care for which the family is grateful, according to a statement issued by his namesake organization. The General and his family greatly appreciate the warm wishes and prayers of his friends, colleagues, and supporters. Hayden, 73, served as director of the CIA and National Security Agency during the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. He retired from the CIA in 2009. Hayden has been a vocal critic of Donald Trumps campaign and presidency. Earlier this year, after Trump decided to revoke the security clearance of former CIA director John Brennan, Hayden was one of several former intelligence leaders who signed a statement in opposition. Criticizing the president for crossing a line, he quickly became one of the individuals whose security clearance Trump threatened to review. Deanna Paul writes for the Washington Post. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump tells troops hes thankful for what hes done for the U.S. and rails against courts and migrants By Associated Press President Trump talks with troops via teleconference from his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., on Thanksgiving. (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump used his Thanksgiving Day call to troops deployed overseas to pat himself on the back and air grievances about the courts, trade and migrants heading to the U.S.-Mexico border. Trumps call, made from his opulent private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., struck an unusually political tone as he spoke with members of all five branches of the military to wish them happy holidays. Its a disgrace, Trump said of judges who have blocked his attempts to overhaul U.S. immigration law, as he linked his efforts to secure the border with military missions overseas. Trump later threatened to close the U.S. border with Mexico for an undisclosed period of time if his administration determines Mexico has lost control on its side. The call was a uniquely Trump blend of boasting, peppered questions and off-the-cuff observations as his comments veered from venting about slights to praising troops  You really are our heroes, he said  as club waiters worked to set Thanksgiving dinner tables on the outdoor terrace behind him. It was yet another show of how Trump has dramatically transformed the presidency, erasing the traditional divisions between domestic policy and military matters and efforts to keep the troops clear of politics. You probably see over the news whats happening on our southern border, Trump told one Air Force brigadier general stationed at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, adding: I dont have to even ask you. I know what you want to do, you want to make sure that you know who were letting in. Later, Trump asked a U.S. Coast Guard commander about trade, which he noted was a very big subject for him personally. Weve been taken advantage of for many, many years by bad trade deals, Trump told the commander, who sheepishly replied, Mr. President, from our perspective on the water  we dont see any issues in terms of trade right now. And throughout, Trump congratulated himself, telling the officers that the country is doing exceptionally well on his watch. I hope that youll take solace in knowing that all of the American families you hold so close to your heart are all doing well, he said. The nations doing well economically, better than anybody in the world. He later told reporters, Nobodys done more for the military than me. Indeed, asked what he was thankful for this Thanksgiving, Trump cited his great family as well as himself. I made a tremendous difference in this country, he said. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Trump contradicts CIA assessment that Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi killing By Josh Dawsey | Washington Post (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump on Thursday contradicted the CIAs assessment that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, insisting that the agency had feelings but did not firmly place blame for the death. Trump, in defiant remarks to reporters from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, defended his continued support for Mohammed in the face of a CIA assessment that the crown prince had ordered the killing. He denies it vehemently, Trump said. He said his own conclusion was that maybe he did, maybe he didnt. I hate the crime .... I hate the cover-up. I will tell you this: The crown prince hates it more than I do, Trump said. Asked who should be held accountable for the death of Khashoggi, who was killed at the Saudi Consulate in Turkey, Trump refused to place blame. Maybe the world should be held accountable because the world is a very, very vicious place, the president said. He also seemed to suggest that all U.S. allies were guilty of the same behavior, declaring that if the others were held to the standard that critics have held Saudi Arabia to in recent days, we wouldnt be able to have anyone for an ally. Trumps remarks came after he held a conference call with U.S. military officers overseas, during which he repeatedly praised his administration and sought to draw the officers into discussions of domestic policy. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Former FBI Director James Comey gets subpoena from House Republicans By Bloomberg Former FBI Director James B. Comey said he has received a subpoena from House Republicans, according to a Twitter post on Thursday. Bloomberg News reported last week that Comey would be receiving a subpoena alongside former Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch as part of continuing probes into their handling of investigations into Hillary Clinton and Russian election meddling, according to a top House Democrat. Happy Thanksgiving. Got a subpoena from House Republicans. Im still happy to sit in the light and answer all questions. But I will resist a closed door thing because Ive seen enough of their selective leaking and distortion. Lets have a hearing and invite everyone to see.  James Comey (@Comey) November 22, 2018 Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Republican David Valadaos lead slips to 447 votes over Democrat TJ Cox in still-undecided Central Valley House race By Mark Z. Barabak Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford), right, finds himself in an increasingly harrowing cliffhanger against Democrat TJ Cox. (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) On election night, it looked like Rep. David Valadao had survived a close shave and was destined to return to Washington for his fourth term. But on Wednesday, when Fresno County announced its latest vote totals, the Hanford Republican found himself in an increasingly harrowing cliffhanger against Democrat TJ Cox, with his lead in the Central Valley district shrunken to 447 votes. Thousands remain to be counted. Valadao, a repeated Democratic target, finished election night with a lead of nearly 4,440 votes. Cox, an engineer and a business owner who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2006, has steadily gained ground in the 21st Congressional District ever since. The trend is consistent with historic patterns showing Republicans in California tend to vote early and Democrats later, meaning their mail ballots continue to stream in past election day. Under California law, ballots postmarked up to midnight on Nov. 6 will be counted. Democrats have already picked up six House seats in California. They ousted Reps. Dana Rohrabacher, Mimi Walters, Steve Knight and Jeff Denham and won the seats of retiring Reps. Ed Royce and Darrell Issa. All six represented districts that backed Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in 2016. Valadao was the seventh California Republican in a district Clinton won, though his previous successes  he last won reelection by a 14-point margin  suggested his ouster was a longer shot for Democrats. If Cox prevails, it would give Democrats a 40-seat gain nationwide, far more than the 23 seats needed to take control when Congress reconvenes in January. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Trump says no new punishments against Saudi Arabia in Jamal Khashoggi murder By Eli Stokols In this Oct. 25 photo, candles are lit in front of a photo of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (Lefteris Pitarakis) President Trump made it clear on Tuesday that he does not intend to punish Saudi Arabia or Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, an American resident killed by Saudi officials in Turkey in October. In a remarkable statement replete with exclamation points, Trump cast doubt on the CIAs reported conclusions that it has a high degree of confidence that the crown prince ordered Khashoggis murder and sent his closest allies to Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul to carry it out. Read MoreThis article has been updated with staff. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Sixteen House Democrats vow to oppose Nancy Pelosi as next speaker By Mike DeBonis | Washington Post House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Sixteen House Democrats said Monday that they will vote to deny Rep. Nancy Pelosi another stint as House speaker, a show of defiance that puts her opponents on the cusp of forcing a seismic leadership shake-up as their party prepares to take the majority. Their pledge to oppose Pelosi (D-San Francisco), both in an internal caucus election and a Jan. 3 floor vote, delivered in a letter sent to Democratic colleagues, comes as Pelosi has marshaled a legion of supporters on and off Capitol Hill to make her case. But her opponents said Monday they are convinced it is time to select a new leader. We are thankful to Leader Pelosi for her years of service to our Country and to our Caucus, they wrote. However, we also recognize that in this recent election, Democrats ran on and won on a message of change. Pelosi has expressed complete confidence that she will retake the speakers gavel in January  eight years after she lost it following massive Republican gains in the 2010 midterms and 16 years after she was first elevated to the top Democratic leadership post in the House. Come on in, the waters fine, she said Friday about a potential leadership challenge. The signers might not be able to force Pelosi out themselves. The size of the Democratic majority remains in flux, but Democrats have already won 232 seats, according to the Associated Press, with five races still undecided. All those races have Republican incumbents, but the Democratic challenger is ahead in only one of them. If the leads hold in the uncalled races, Democrats would have won 233 seats, a 16-seat majority. That means Pelosi could lose as many as 15 Democratic votes when she stands for election as speaker on Jan. 3. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Democratic senators sue over Whitakers appointment as acting attorney general By Associated Press Acting U.S. Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitaker (Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images) Three Senate Democrats filed a lawsuit Monday arguing that Acting Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitakers appointment is unconstitutional and asking a federal judge to remove him. The suit, filed by Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, argues that Whitakers appointment violates the Constitution because he has not been confirmed by the Senate. Whitaker was chief of staff to Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions and was elevated to the top job after Sessions was ousted by President Trump on Nov. 7. The Constitutions Appointments Clause requires that the Senate confirm all principal officials before they can serve in their office. The Justice Department released a legal opinion last week that said Whitakers appointment would not violate the clause because he is serving in an acting capacity. The opinion concluded that Whitaker, even without Senate confirmation, may serve in an acting capacity because he has been at the department for more than a year at a sufficiently senior pay level. President Trump is denying senators our constitutional obligation and opportunity to do our job: scrutinizing the nomination of our nations top law enforcement official, Blumenthal said in a statement. The reason is simple: Whitaker would never pass the advice and consent test. In selecting a so-called constitutional nobody and thwarting every senators constitutional duty, Trump leaves us no choice but to seek recourse through the courts. The lawsuit comes days after a Washington lawyer challenged Whitakers appointment in a pending Supreme Court case dealing with gun rights. The attorney, Thomas Goldstein, asked the high court to find that Whitakers appointment is unconstitutional and replace him with Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein. Rosenstein, the second-ranking Justice Department official, has been confirmed by the Senate and had been overseeing special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. Whitaker is now overseeing the investigation. The Justice Department issued a statement Monday defending Whitakers appointment as lawful and said it comports with the Appointments Clause, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and legal precedent. There are over 160 instances in American history in which non-Senate confirmed persons performed, on a temporary basis, the duties of a Senate-confirmed position, Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said. To suggest otherwise is to ignore centuries of practice and precedent. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Gov. Rick Scott says Sen. Bill Nelson concedes Florida Senate race By Associated Press Republican Senate candidate Rick Scott speaks with his wife, Ann, by his side at an election watch party in Naples, Fla., on Nov. 7. (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) Floridas Republican Gov. Rick Scott says incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson called him to concede defeat in their extremely tight race. Scott issued a statement Sunday saying Nelson graciously conceded their Senate race shortly after the states recount ended. The final results show Scott defeated Nelson by just over 10,000 votes out of 8 million cast. Nelson is scheduled to release a videotaped statement later Sunday. The defeat ends Nelsons lengthy political career. The three-term incumbent was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000. Before that he served six terms in the U.S. House and as state treasurer and insurance commissioner for six years. Scott spent more than $60 million of his own money on ads that portrayed Nelson as out-of-touch and ineffective. Nelson responded by questioning Scotts ethics and saying he would be under the sway of President Trump. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Orange County goes blue, as Democrats complete historic sweep of its seven congressional seats By Michael Finnegan Gil Cisneros defeated Republican Young Kim on Saturday in the last of Orange Countys undecided House races, giving Democrats a clean sweep of the states six most fiercely fought congressional contests and marking an epochal shift in a region long synonymous with political conservatism. With Cisneros victory, Democrats will constitute the entirety of Orange Countys seven-member congressional delegation, the first time since the 1930s that the birthplace of Richard Nixon, home of John Wayne and spiritual center of the Republican Party will have no GOP representative in the House. Sitting back in the 1960s, I would never have believed this would happen, said Stuart K. Spencer, a party strategist who spent more than half a century ushering Republicans, including President Reagan, into office. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Going, going ... with midterm wipeout, California Republican Party drifts closer to irrelevance By Michael Finnegan For a party in freefall the last two decades, California Republicans learned that its possible to plunge even further. The GOP not only lost every statewide office in the midterm election  again, in blowout fashion  but Democrats reestablished their supermajority in Sacramento, allowing them to legislate however they see fit After major defeats in Orange County and the Central Valley, two longtime strongholds, Republicans will have a significantly smaller footprint on Capitol Hill. (Democrats hold both Senate seats.) When the vote-counting is finished, the GOP may not even have enough lawmakers in Californias 53-member House delegation to field a nine-person softball team. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Congresswoman-elect Katie Porter says she will support Rep. Nancy Pelosi for speaker By Maya Sweedler Democratic Rep.-elect Katie Porter is congratulated by volunteers at her campaign headquarters in Irvine. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Congresswoman-elect Katie Porter said she plans to support Rep. Nancy Pelosis bid for speaker of the House and will make campaign finance reform her top priority when she enters the chamber in January. Im going to continue to have conversations, but so far I feel like Leader Pelosi is definitely making the things that were a priority to the families that elected me her priorities, including announcing her support for campaign finance reform and anti-corruption as HR1, Porter said in her first public appearance since being declared the winner in Californias 45th Congressional District on Thursday evening. It means a lot to me that she is a Californian. She understands our state, Porter added. When we talk about environmental protections, this is a person who understands as a Californian how fragile our environment is and whats at risk in things like drilling off our coasts. Porter, a law professor at UC Irvine, defeated two-term Republican Rep. Mimi Walters. The 45th District, covering inland Orange County, has never been represented by a Democrat. Porter became the third Democrat to claim a Republican-held seat in Orange County, following the victories of Harley Rouda in the 48th District and Mike Levin in the 49th. A fourth, Gil Cisneros, is running slightly ahead of his Republican opponent in the race for the open seat in the 39th District, which extends into Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Porter attributed the massive political shift in the county, for decades a conservative stronghold, to increased levels of political engagement. Folks here care about education, they care about the environment, they believe climate change is real, they want healthcare that protects preexisting conditions, they want a tax system that doesnt punish California, they want our schools and places of worship to be safe from gun violence, she said. Those are the issues we campaigned on, and to the extent that Donald Trump and Mimi Walters were on the wrong side of those issues, the voters have made clear what direction they want us to go. Porter was flying back from the East Coast when her race was called, she said. She turned on her phone to find 167 text messages from friends and supporters. Among them was Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who was one of Porters teachers in law school and with whom she has remained close. The pair spoke via FaceTime this morning, she said. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Bitter battle for Senate seat in Florida goes to hand recount By Associated Press Employees look through damaged ballots during a recount Thursday in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) Floridas acrimonious battle for the U.S. Senate headed Thursday to a legally required hand recount after an initial review by ballot-counting machines showed Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson separated by less than 13,000 votes. But the highly watched contest for governor between Republican Ron DeSantis and Democrat Andrew Gillum appeared to be over, with a machine recount showing DeSantis with a large enough advantage over Gillum to avoid a hand recount in that race. Gillum, who conceded the contest on election night only to retract his concession later, said in a statement that it is not over until every legally casted vote is counted. The recount so far has been fraught with problems. One large Democratic stronghold in South Florida was unable to finish its machine recount by the Thursday deadline due to machines breaking down. A federal judge rejected a request to extend the recount deadline. We gave a heroic effort, said Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher. If the county had three or four more hours, it would have made the deadline to recount ballots in the Senate race, she said. Meanwhile, election officials in another urban county in the Tampa Bay area decided against turning in the results of their machine recount, which came up with 846 fewer votes than originally counted. Media in South Florida reported that Broward County finished its machine recount but missed the deadline by a few minutes. Counties were ordered last weekend to do a machine recount of three statewide races because the margins were so tight. The next stage is a manual review of ballots that were not counted by machines to see whether there is a way to figure out voter intent. Scott called on Nelson to end the recount battle. Its time for Nelson to respect the will of the voters and graciously bring this process to an end rather than proceed with yet another count of the votes  which will yield the same result and bring more embarrassment to the state that we both love and have served, the governor said in a statement. The recount has triggered multiple lawsuits, many of them filed by Nelson and Democrats. The legal battles drew the ire of U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker, who slammed the state for repeatedly failing to anticipate election problems. He also said the state law on recounts appears to violate the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that decided the presidency in 2000. We have been the laughingstock of the world, election after election, and we chose not to fix this, Walker said during a morning hearing. Walker vented his anger at state lawmakers and Palm Beach County officials, saying they should have made sure they had enough equipment in place to handle this kind of a recount. But he said he could not extend the recount deadline because he did not know when Palm Beach County would finish its work. This court must be able to craft a remedy with knowledge that it will not prove futile, Walker wrote in his ruling turning down the request from Democrats. It cannot do so on this record. This court does not and will not fashion a remedy in the dark. The overarching problem was created by the Florida Legislature, which Walker said passed a recount law that appears to run afoul of the 2000 Bush vs. Gore decision by locking in procedures that do not allow for potential problems. A total of six election-related lawsuits are pending in federal court in Tallahassee as well at least one lawsuit filed in state court. Walker also ordered that voters be given until 5 p.m. Saturday to show a valid identification and fix their ballots if they have not been counted due to mismatched signatures. Republicans appealed the ruling, but an appeals court turned down the request. State officials testified that nearly 4,000 mailed-in ballots were set aside because local officials decided the signatures on the envelopes did not match the signatures on file. If those voters can prove their identity, their votes will be counted and included in final official returns due from each county by noon Sunday. Walker was asked by Democrats to require local officials to provide a list of people whose ballots were rejected. But the judge appointed by President Obama refused the request, calling it inappropriate. Under state law, a hand review is required with races that have a margin of 0.25 percentage points or less. A state website put the unofficial results showing Scott ahead of Nelson by 0.15 percentage points. The margin between DeSantis and Gillum was at 0.41 points. The margin between Scott and Nelson had not changed much in the last few days, conceded Marc Elias, an attorney working for Nelsons campaign. But he said that he expected the vote tally to shrink due to the hand recount and the ruling on signatures. The developments fueled frustrations among Democrats and Republicans alike. Democrats want state officials to do whatever it takes to make sure every eligible vote is counted. Republicans, including President Trump, have argued without evidence that voter fraud threatens to steal races from the GOP. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Democrat Gil Cisneros pulls ahead of Republican Young Kim as more votes are tallied in Orange and San Bernardino counties By Michael Finnegan Congressional candidate Gil Cisneros (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Democrat Gil Cisneros pulled ahead of Republican Young Kim in one of Californias undecided congressional races Thursday, an ominous sign for a GOP already reeling from its loss of four House seats in the state. In updated vote counts released by the registrars for Orange and San Bernardino counties, Kim fell 941 votes behind Cisneros in the contest to succeed Republican Rep. Ed Royce in Californias 39th Congressional District. The 39th straddles Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange counties. In another unresolved House race, Democrat Katie Porter pulled further ahead of Republican incumbent Mimi Walters in the 45th District, which includes Mission Viejo, Tustin, Irvine, Rancho Santa Margarita and Laguna Hills. Porter, a consumer attorney and UC Irvine law professor, is now 6,203 votes ahead. The Nov. 6 midterm election has been devastating to Republicans in California. If Cisneros and Porter win, the party will have lost six of its 14 House seats in the state, essentially a wipeout in every contest that both parties spent heavily to win. The three Republicans already bounced from Congress are Reps. Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa, Steve Knight of Palmdale and Jeff Denham of Turlock in the San Joaquin Valley. Democrat Mike Levin won the seat of retiring GOP Rep. Darrell Issa of Vista in the fourth district flipped so far. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Florida Senate race likely headed to second recount By Associated Press A Palm Beach County Sheriffs deputy walks past boxes of ballots before a recount on Nov. 15 in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee) Unofficial Florida election results show that the governors race seems to be settled after a machine recount but the U.S. Senate race is likely headed to a hand recount. Republican Ron DeSantis is virtually assured of winning the nationally watched governors race over Democrat Andrew Gillum. Florida finished a machine recount Thursday that showed Gillum without enough votes to force a manual recount. Unofficial results posted on a state website show the margin between U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and Gov. Rick Scott is still thin enough to trigger a second review. State law requires a hand recount of races with a margin of 0.25 percentage point or less. Counties have until Sunday to inspect the ballots that did not record a vote when put through the machines. Those ballots are re-examined to see whether the voter skipped the race or marked the ballot in a way that the machines cannot read but can be deciphered. The election will be certified Tuesday. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Pelosi says she has the votes to become the next House speaker By John Wagner Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi speaks during a news conference in Washington on Nov. 14. (Susan Walsh) House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi insisted Thursday that she has the votes to become the chambers speaker despite solid opposition from more than a dozen Democrats who want fresh leadership when the party takes control next year. I have overwhelming support in my caucus to be speaker of the House, the San Francisco lawmaker told reporters. I happen to think at this point, Im the best person for that. A vote within the Democratic caucus is scheduled for Nov. 28. The full House votes on Jan. 3 to elect a new speaker. During her remarks, Pelosi touted the size of the Democratic victory in the midterms, which she called almost a tsunami. With a few races still to be decided, Democrats are poised to pick up close to 40 seats in the chamber. Pelosi called that the biggest victory for the Democrats since 1974, when the Watergate babies came in. Pelosis comments come as she faces solid opposition from at least 17 Democrats, setting the stage for a battle over who will ascend to one of the most powerful positions in Washington. After a campaign in which some Democrats prevailed in competitive districts by promising to oppose her, a coalition of incumbents and newly elected members has denied her a smooth path to the speakership. The defections, if they stand, would leave Pelosi, who has led the Democrats for more than 15 years, several votes short of the 218 she would need when the full House votes for speaker Jan. 3. However, no Democrat has stepped forward to run against her for a job she held from 2007 through 2010. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) told reporters Wednesday that shes being encouraged to stand for speaker if Pelosi doesnt have the votes. In an interview with the Washington Post on Thursday, she said she has been overwhelmed by the support from many of her colleagues for her possible entry into the race for House speaker. Over the last 12 hours, Ive been overwhelmed by the amount of support Ive received, Fudge said, adding that there are probably closer to 30" Democrats who have privately signaled that they are willing to oppose Pelosi. Things could change rapidly, Fudge said. Fudge, 66, a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said she is building a diverse coalition as she mulls a speaker run, talking with allies in the caucus, moderate Democrats and newly elected members. To this point, Pelosi has enjoyed the strong backing of the Congressional Black Caucus. On Thursday, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), one of its members, wrote a letter to colleagues praising her insight, fortitude and strategic thinking and urging support for her speakership bid. Former Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., an African American who is contemplating a 2020 presidential bid, also voiced support for Pelosi, praising her in a tweet as an architect of the recent midterm success. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), a leader of the resistance to Pelosi, said during an interview on CNN on Thursday that Fudge is the kind of new leader that we need in this party. Shes in touch with middle America. She understands what the American people want. Shes a next-generation leader that people will look to and say, Thats the future of our party, thats the future of our country, and thats exactly the kind of leader that I want to see as our next speaker. Wagner reports for the Washington Post. The Posts Robert Costa, Erica Werner, Mike DeBonis, Paul Kane and Elise Viebeck contributed to this report. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

GOP Rep. Jeff Denham concedes to Democrat Josh Harder in Central Valley race By Maya Sweedler Rep. Jeff Denham (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) Republican Rep. Jeff Denham has conceded to Democrat Josh Harder in the race to represent Californias 10th Congressional District in the San Joaquin Valley. It has been an absolute honor to serve our community and represent the Central Valley in Congress over the past eight years, the 51-year-old congressman said. The enormity of the responsibility was never lost on me. My wife Sonia and I look forward to starting the next chapter of our lives. Harder said he had spoken with Denham and the two were committed to a productive transition. Denham, an Air Force veteran, previously represented the region in the state Senate for eight years and founded a company specializing in plastic packaging used in agriculture. While a member of Congress, he sat on the Transportation and Infrastructure, Veterans Affairs and Agriculture committees. First-time candidate Harder was born and raised in the district. After graduating from Stanford University, he served as vice president of a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Since moving back, he has been teaching at Modesto Junior College. Denhams House seat is one of four in California that Republicans lost in the Nov. 6 election, with two contests in Orange County still undecided as of Thursday morning. Jeff Denham called me this morning and we had a very productive conversation. I'm honored that I've been chosen to serve our community in Congress, and we're both looking forward to a productive transition that best serves the people of District 10.  Josh Harder (@JoshHarder) November 14, 2018 Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Democrat Katie Porter now nearly 3,800 votes ahead of GOP Rep. Mimi Walters By Maya Sweedler Rep. Mimi Walters thanks all of her supporters as she watches election results in Irvine on Nov. 7, 2018. (Alex Gallardo / Associated Press) Democrat Katie Porter opened a 3,797-vote lead Wednesday over Republican Rep. Mimi Walters in Orange Countys 45th Congressional District. In the neighboring 39th, Democrat Gil Cisneros has nearly tied the race against Republican Young Kim. Cisneros now trails Kim by a razor-thin margin of 122 votes. The 39th District straddles Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties; Wednesdays updated ballot counts came from the latter two. There are more than 202,000 ballots left to count in Orange County, which includes parts of seven congressional districts. The 45th is entirely in inland Orange County. In California, the ballots counted first tend to lean Republican and those tallied later skew Democratic. In the Central Valleys 21st Congressional District, Democratic challenger TJ Cox has pulled within 2 percentage points of Rep. David Valadao, who is serving his third term. The Associated Press had projected a win for Valadao on election night, but his 4,839-vote advantage has shrunk to 2,090. Back in CA-21, Valadao (R) wins a batch of ballots from his stronghold in Kings Co., but by a considerably smaller margin (14 points) than his previous ~30-point margin in the county. We're moving to Lean R from Likely R; today a bit scary for Valadao.https://t.co/WqJVUVkqGW  Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 15, 2018 A spokesman for Valadao told the Fresno Bee that the changes were expected and that [s]tatistically, David Valadao has won this race. Democrats in California have already flipped four House seats, defeating three Republican incumbents and claiming an open seat previously held by the GOP. Reps. Steve Knight of Palmdale, Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa and Jeff Denham of Turlock have already lost their races, and retiring Rep. Darrell Issas San Diego County seat was claimed by Democrat Mike Levin. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump aide departs West Wing after rebuke from Melania Trump By Associated Press First Lady Melania Trump. (Alain Jocard / AFP-Getty Images) Deputy national security advisor Mira Ricardel is leaving the White House, one day after First Lady Melania Trumps office issued an extraordinary statement calling for her dismissal. No replacement was named. Aides said Ricardel clashed with the first ladys staff over her visit to Africa last month. Yet it is highly unusual for a first lady or her office to weigh in on personnel matters, especially the presidents national security staff. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Ricardel would have a new role in the administration. On Tuesday, Stephanie Grisham, the first ladys spokeswoman, released a statement saying, It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House. President Trumps White House has set records for administration turnover. Ricardel was the third person to hold the post under Trump. An ally of national security advisor John Bolton, Ricardel began her service in the Trump administration as associate director in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, then moved to the Commerce Department last year. Bolton brought her into the West Wing shortly after taking the job in April. He is traveling in Asia this week alongside Vice President Mike Pence. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Race for House Minority Leader is Kevin McCarthys to lose By Associated Press (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is running to take over next years shrunken caucus in closed-door elections that will set the tone for the new Congress. The race for minority leader is McCarthys to lose Wednesday. But the California Republican, who is an ally of President Trump, must fend off a challenge from conservative Jim Jordan of Ohio. Jordan is a leader of the House Freedom Caucus. The two encountered questions and finger-pointing during a private meeting with lawmakers Tuesday night as the GOP sorted through the midterm defeat that put Democrats in the majority next year. Elections Wednesday will also determine party leadership in the Senate. Voting for the biggest race, Nancy Pelosis bid to return as the Democrats nominee for speaker, is later this month. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Melania Trump calls for the firing of deputy national security advisor By Justin Sink First Lady Melania Trump arrives at the Chateau de Versailles outside Paris on Nov. 11. (Alain Jocard / AFP/Getty Images ) First Lady Melania Trumps office said she wants Mira Ricardel, the deputy national security advisor, ousted from the White House. It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House, Trumps spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, said in a statement in response to a question about reports the first lady had sought Ricardels removal. Ricardel is the top deputy to national security advisor John Bolton. She drew the first ladys wrath after threatening to withhold National Security Council resources during Melania Trumps trip to Africa last month unless Ricardel was included in her entourage, one person familiar with the matter said. Grishams statement comes as several media outlets have reported that President Trump is considering a broader shakeup of his administration, including ousting Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Sink and Jacobs report for Bloomberg. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

CNN sues Trump over the suspension of Jim Acostas White House press credentials By Jim Puzzanghera CNN said Tuesday that it is suing President Trump and other administration officials over the decision to suspend the White House press credentials of correspondent Jim Acosta after a conflict at a news conference last week. The suit, to be filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, escalates an ongoing battle between Trump and the cable news outlet that he frequently accuses of disseminating fake news for its aggressive coverage of him and his administration. The wrongful revocation of these credentials violates CNN and Acostas 1st Amendment rights of freedom of the press, and their 5th Amendment rights to due process, CNN said in a written statement. If left unchallenged, the actions of the White House would create a dangerous chilling effect for any journalist who covers our elected officials. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Maxine Waters to take aim at Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank as new head of House Financial Services Committee By Jim Puzzanghera Rep. Maxine Waters plans to zero in on two big banks  Wells Fargo & Co. and Deutsche Bank  when she becomes head of the powerful House Financial Services Committee. The Los Angeles congresswoman, now the committees top Democrat, is widely expected to gain the gavel after her party won control of the House in last weeks elections. While Waters has outlined a wide-ranging agenda, she said her focus on bank oversight will target two large institutions she has been tangling with for a while  including one, Deutsche Bank, that spills into her bitter feud with President Trump. With Trump in the White House, I know that our fight for Americas consumers and investors will continue to be challenging. But I am more than up to that fight, Waters wrote in a letter last week to her Democratic colleagues on the committee that was obtained by The Times. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Heres how a controversial voting system will decide a congressional race in Maine By Kurtis Lee For the first time in U.S. history, a controversial voting system known as ranked choice is being used to decide a federal election. Its happening in Maine, which adopted the system in 2016. Rather than marking a single candidate, each voter ranks them all, assigning a first-place vote, a second-place vote and so on down the ballot. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

ACLU files suit to stop Trumps new asylum limits By Associated Press A group of Central American migrants march to the office of the U.N.'s humans rights body in Mexico City on Nov. 8. (Rebecca Blackwell / Associated Press) The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a legal challenge to President Trumps order denying asylum to migrants if they cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. The lawsuit was filed Friday in federal court in San Francisco and argues the new rules are against the law. Attorney Lee Gelernt said the regulations will put families in danger. The suit seeks to declare the regulations invalid and wants a judge to stop the rules from going into effect while the litigation is pending. The new rules were spurred in part by caravans of Central American migrants slowly moving north on foot, but officials say they will apply to anyone caught crossing illegally. Officials say about 70,000 people who enter the country illegally claim asylum. The order invoked the same national security powers Trump used to push through his travel ban. Read More Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Trump on new acting AG: I dont know Matt Whitaker By Associated Press President Trump talks with reporters before departing for France on the South Lawn of the White House on Nov. 9. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) President Trump is moving to distance himself from Matthew Whitaker as he faces criticism over his choice for acting attorney general. Trump told reporters Friday that I dont know Matt Whitaker and said he didnt speak with Whitaker about special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. Whitaker has made public comments critical of Muellers investigation, and critics have called on Whitaker to recuse himself from oversight of the inquiry. Under former Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, the investigation was overseen by Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein. Of the scrutiny Whitaker is facing, Trump said: Its a shame that no matter who I put in they go after. He also called Whitaker a very highly respected man. Whitaker was Sessions chief of staff before Trump made him Sessions interim replacement. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg out of hospital after fall By Associated Press The Supreme Court says 85-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is home after being released from the hospital. She had been admitted for treatment and observation after fracturing three ribs in a fall. The court said Ginsburg was released Friday. Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg says she is doing well and working from home. The court had previously said the justice fell in her office at the court on Wednesday evening and went to George Washington University Hospital in Washington early Thursday after experiencing discomfort overnight. Ginsburg broke two ribs in a fall in 2012. She had two prior bouts with cancer and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Gun-control activist Lucy McBath defeats GOP Rep. Karen Handel in Georgia By Associated Press Lucy McBath speaks during a rally for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams on Nov. 2 at Morehouse College in Atlanta. (Alyssa Pointer / Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) Democratic gun-control activist Lucy McBath has defeated Republican Rep. Karen Handel of Georgia in a suburban congressional district long considered safe for the GOP. Handel had to seek reelection after winning her seat last year in a close special election race against Democrat Jon Ossoff. McBath became an advocate for stricter gun laws after her son, Jordan Davis, was fatally shot at a Florida gas station in 2012 by a man angry over loud music the teenager and his friends were playing in a car. McBaths margin of victory was narrow enough for Handel to have requested a recount. The Associated Press declared McBath the winner Thursday after Handel conceded. Handel conceded in a statement Thursday morning, stating that after reviewing all of the election data, its clear she came up a bit short in Tuesdays vote. Handel congratulated McBath, offering good thoughts and much prayer for the journey that lies ahead for her. McBath, who is African American, declared victory Wednesday. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg hospitalized after fracturing 3 ribs in fall By Associated Press Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press) The Supreme Court says 85-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg fractured three ribs in a fall in her office at the court and is in the hospital. The court says the justice went to George Washington University Hospital in Washington early Thursday after experiencing discomfort overnight. The court says the fall occurred Wednesday evening. Ginsburg was admitted to the hospital for treatment and observation after tests showed she fractured three ribs. Ginsburg broke two ribs in a fall in 2012. She has had two prior bouts with cancer and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

White House suspends press pass of CNNs Jim Acosta after heated exchange with Trump By Associated Press The White House on Wednesday suspended the press pass of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after he and President Trump had a heated confrontation during a news conference. They began sparring after Acosta asked Trump about the caravan of migrants heading from Latin America to the southern U.S. border. When Acosta tried to follow up with another question, Trump said, Thats enough! and a female White House aide unsuccessfully tried to grab the microphone from Acosta. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement accusing Acosta of placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern, calling it absolutely unacceptable. The interaction between Acosta and the intern was brief, and Acosta appeared to brush her arm as she reached for the microphone and he tried to hold onto it. Pardon me, maam, he told her. Acosta tweeted that Sanders statement that he put his hands on the aide was a lie. CNN said in a statement that the White House revoked Acostas press pass in retaliation for his challenging questions Wednesday, and the network accused Sanders of lying about Acostas actions. This conduct is absolutely unacceptable. It is also completely disrespectful to the reporters colleagues not to allow them an opportunity to ask a question. President Trump has given the press more access than any President in history.  Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 Contrary to CNNs assertions there is no greater demonstration of the Presidents support for a free press than the event he held today. Only they would attack the President for not supporting a free press in the midst of him taking 68 questions from 35 different reporters...  Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 As a result of todays incident, the White House is suspending the hard pass of the reporter involved until further notice.  Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 Sanders provided fraudulent accusations and cited an incident that never happened. This unprecedented decision is a threat to our democracy and the country deserves better, CNN said. Jim Acosta has our full support. Journalists assigned to cover the White House apply for passes that allow them daily access to press areas in the West Wing. White House staffers decide whether journalists are eligible, though the Secret Service determines whether their applications are approved. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Trump spars with reporters at post-election news briefing, ordering several to sit down By Associated Press  President Trump assails CNNs Jim Acosta at a White House news conference. President Trump sparred with reporters at his post-election news conference, ordering several to sit down and telling another hes a rude, terrible person. He told another reporter hes not a fan of yours, either. The presidents mood turned sour Wednesday after reporters pressed him on why he referred to a migrant caravan making its way to the U.S. on foot through Mexico as an invasion. Trump ramped up his anti-immigrant rhetoric against the caravan in the final days of the midterm elections. Trump was also pressed on why his campaign aired an ad featuring a Mexican immigrant convicted of killing American police officers and linking the mans actions to the caravan. Several television networks pulled the ad after airing it or declined to air it at all. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Im living one hour at a time at this point By Christine Mai-Duc Republican congressional candidate Young Kim and gubernatorial candidate John Cox campaign in Rowland Heights. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Republican congressional candidate Young Kim greeted gubernatorial candidate John Coxs giant campaign bus, the words HELP IS ON THE WAY emblazoned across it, as it rolled into the parking lot outside her Rowland Heights field office. Standing beside Cox on Saturday, Kim predicted that a string of GOP victories Tuesday would start with voters repealing the gas tax hike. Can you imagine Gavin Newsom being our governor? Can you imagine Gil Cisneros being your representative? Kim asked the crowd, to loud boos and cries of Nooo! The former state assemblywoman who worked for retiring Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) is vying for his seat with Democrat Gil Cisneros. She led the crowd in chants of Enough is enough! and, though short-lived, Drain the swamp! Ive served you in Sacramento and Ive seen dysfunction personally, Kim continued. We cannot continue that route. She urged her supporters to stay and help make phone calls or walk neighborhoods. Lets get out there  the 72 hours is really critical. Its all going to come down to a few votes, it could be your vote, she said pointing to her left, then pivoting right, it could be your vote. So dont sit back and do nothing. Every night I go to sleep thinking, OK, how many more votes can I get or how many more people can I call tomorrow? Kim said. It can be physically exhausting but Im mentally, emotionally very energized. She listed off her events so far that day  and the next one she was heading to. Thats just what I can remember, she said. Im living one hour at a time at this point. Kims campaign invited press to two of her events on Saturday. After she was whisked away to her next event  a high tea fundraiser in Walnut, a couple dozen volunteers remained. John Freeman, a statewide field manager for the state Republican Party, tried to pump them up. This is the Super Bowl. Were not in an NFL stadium, were not getting paid millions of dollars, but you know what? Freeman said. Were walking on the field right now. This is that high-stakes-level game. Facebook

Twitter

Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Email

Copy Link URL Copied!

Print

Advertisement

Its going to be tough out there Democratic candidate Katie Porter speaks to volunteers in Mission Viejo. Jon Bauman, Bowzer from the band Sha Na Na, is in the background. (Victoria Kim / Los Angeles Times ) Judging from the cheers in the crowd, about half those assembled at Katie Porters campaign headquarters in Mission Viejo Sunday morning were old enough to remember 70s rock n roll star Bowzer from the band Sha Na Na. Jon Bauman, as Bowzer is known off stage, said it was her position on senior issues including retirement and social security that has him out supporting Porter over her opponent, incumbent Rep. Mimi Walters. I want you to make sure every phone is called and every door is knocked, he told the crowd of about 80 volunteers. There has never been a more important election. Both Bauman and his nephew, California Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman, were interrupted by yells from Trump supporters coming from an adjoining hillside. We love Trump, the voice cried out. We love him too, he makes great fodder, the younger Bauman retorted, before introducing Porter. Porter, a UC Irvine law professor and first-time candidate, acknowledged the uphill battle some of her canvassers might face in this more conservative end of the long-red Orange County district. I know its going to be tough out there, she said, motioning to the hillside. But she said the attacks meant the other side viewed her campaign as a significant threat. This election is going to be close, she said. If we dont fight all the way to the finish line, until 8 oclock on Tuesday, this could slip away. Bowzer then took to a keyboard piano to lead the crowd in a reworded rendition of the song Good Night Sweetheart: Good night, Mimi Walters, he crooned. A woman in a black tank top, jeans and flip flops holding a cup of coffee later joined the crowd with her two sons, 17 and 14, the younger one wearing a Trump 2016 T-shirt. She declined to give her name, saying she was concerned about being attacked, but said she lived up the hill and said she had been the one yelling. She said she was encouraging her sons to talk to people on both sides and make up their own minds. We need to have a government that runs the way government teachers are telling kids its supposed to be run, said the woman, a retired registered dental assistant who voted early for Mimi Walters. Referring to Democrats, she said: Theyve had control over all these years and Californias gone to crap. Among those canvassing was Stacie Campbell, 37, who was at the launch with her husband Jerome and three children, the youngest of whom was 2 months old. Campbell, a Mission Viejo resident who runs a business, had never canvassed or volunteered for campaigns before, and her husband is a French citizen and unable to vote. She said they had been talking to their children  the older ones are 5 and 2  about the presidency and the government since Trumps election. Together, they worked on homemade Katie Porter lawn signs and put them up around town. This is the first time its felt like a big deal and there isnt a president up for election, she said. Because her city is a mix of conservatives and liberals  her next-door neighbor is an NRA-supporting Republican  she the race felt m
It is common for companies to organize various informal events where workers can come with their partners. One of those...
Egypt's Ministry of Petroleum announced on Friday the signing of an agreement with investment alliance bank CI Capital, Jefferies Bank and Emirates NBD to offer and promote 24 percent of the Egyptian Engineering for Petroleum and Process Industries (ENPPI) in the Egyptian Stock Echange EGX.

The Ministry of Petroleum agreed in March to put up to 24 percent of the shares of ENPPI in the Egyptian stock exchange as part of the government's plan to offer shares from more than 20 companies within three years.

The Egyptian presidency announced in January 2016 that Egypt would offer stakes in successful governmental companies and banks in the stock market.

The last public offering was in 2005 when shares of Telecom Egypt, Alexandria Mineral Oils Company AMOC and Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals Sidpec were sold.

Egypt business sector minister Hesham Tawfik said in September that the country will offer additional shares in five state-owned companies on the Egyptian Exchange during three months at a price that increases or decreases 10 percent from the market price.

The Egyptian government has been working on a program to offer shares of dozens of its owned companies over the next three to five years in sectors such as oil, services, chemicals, shipping, marine services and real estate to help support the state's public finances.



The Ministry of Finance said earlier in September that the government would start the offering program with a 4.5 percent stake in Eastern Tobacco Company.



Search Keywords:

Short link:


Republicans and Democrats sharply disagreed on whether Brett Kavanaugh should join the Supreme Court, but across party lines, most agreed on what his appointment means.

As a justice, Kavanaugh will almost surely create a significantly more conservative majority on the high court and shift the law to the right on a wide front  possibly affecting such issues as abortion, affirmative action, environmental protection, gun rights, immigration, property rights and religion.

That effect will be seen soon in small cases, such as a dispute the justices heard last Monday over the fate of a tiny endangered species of frog, as well as in larger constitutional conflicts about the limits of presidential power or the rights of individuals against the state.

The pace of change will depend largely on Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who has talked about the importance of stability in the law and of preserving the perception that the court is not following a political agenda. His desire to avoid abrupt change could affect how quickly the court moves, but probably not its direction.

Advertisement

For the last 30 years, the courts center has been defined by the views of two moderate Republicans: Justices Sandra Day OConnor and Anthony M. Kennedy. They leaned to the right in cases involving business, crime, job discrimination or government power, but at times they sided with the courts liberals.

Kennedy played the key role in recognizing gay rights, for example. And both were wary of pushing the law too far to the right. Most famously, they balked in 1992 when fellow conservatives tried to overturn the abortion right set forth in Roe vs. Wade.

In 2006, OConnor retired and was replaced by a much more conservative jurist, Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. Now, with the addition of Kavanaugh, the court will have five conservative Republican appointees and four liberal Democratic appointees  and no apparent swing vote. And the court may no longer have members who are inclined to cross the aisle on occasion.

In Kavanaughs years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, he regularly took the most conservative position on three-judge panels and often set out his views in lengthy dissents. He did not play the role of the moderate who tried to find a middle position in hard cases.

And if he was a staunch conservative at the time of his nomination in July, the fierce partisan fight over his confirmation may make it even less likely he will play a moderating role on the court.

Undoubtedly, there will be cases, as there are in most terms, on which the justices agree in unanimous rulings. Some veteran advocates expect the chief justice and his colleagues to try extra hard to reach agreement this term. But many of these consensus rulings arise in non-ideological areas such as patents, taxes, bankruptcy or legal procedures.

Kavanaugh joins a court on which the ideological divide is on display most days.

Last Monday, for example, the eight justices heard their first argument of the new term; at issue was the reach of the Endangered Species Act.

1 / 13 Police warn protesters occupying the front steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday to rally against the Kavanaugh confirmation. (Alex Wong / Getty Images) 2 / 13 Anti-Kavanaugh protesters gather in New Yorks Union Square on Saturday. (Yana Paskova / Getty Images) 3 / 13 New York protesters march from Union Square to Times Square in a rally against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. (Yana Paskova / Getty Images) 4 / 13 New York protesters march from Union Square to Times Square to rally against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh on Saturday. (Yana Paskova / Getty Images) 5 / 13 Police detain protesters who occupied the East Front steps of the U.S. Capitol before the Senate voted on the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh. (Erik S. Lesser / EPA-EFE/REX ) 6 / 13 Jessica Campbell-Swanson of Denver sits in the lap of the Contemplation of Justice statue as protesters rally Saturday against Brett Kavanaugh. (Jose Luis Magana / AFP/Getty Images) 7 / 13 Demonstrators block the main entrance as they take the steps of the Supreme Court to protest the confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh. (Jose Luis Magana / AFP/Getty Images) 8 / 13 Protesters rally Saturday in Washington against the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. (Alex Wong / Getty Images) 9 / 13 Anti-Kavanaugh protesters rally outside the Supreme Court on Saturday. (Drew Angerer / Getty Images) 10 / 13 Demonstrators from Washington-area law schools -- including Georgetown, George Washington, Howard, the District of Columbia and Catholic universities -- march on the U.S. Capitol East Lawn to protest the Kavanaugh confirmation. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) 11 / 13 Anti-Kavanaugh protesters demonstrate Saturday at the Supreme Court. (Chris Kleponis / AFP/Getty Images) 12 / 13 Anti-Kavanaugh protesters demonstrate Saturday at the Supreme Court. (Jose Luis Magana / AFP/Getty Images) 13 / 13 A Howard University student waits for fellow demonstrators from Washington-area law schools for a rally on the U.S. Capitol East Lawn to protest the Kavanaugh confirmation. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

Seeking to protect a frog facing extinction in Mississippi, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had deemed as critical habitat some nearby forestland in Louisiana with small ponds. Weyerhaeuser Co., which owned or leased some of the land, sued, arguing that the endangered frogs did not live there now and that the critical habitat designation had caused the value of its land to drop by $32 million.

The courts liberals saw the environmental rule as reasonable. Justice Elena Kagan said the landowner was not required to do much, other than not cut down all the trees and drain the ponds. The conservatives saw an example of extreme over-regulation. Alito said that if the government wanted to control use of the land, it ought to pay the company for it.

Their comments suggested the justices would split 4 to 4 on the outcome. They may try to fashion a narrow, compromise ruling. Or they may opt to have the case re-argued in a few months so that Kavanaugh can cast the deciding vote.

On Wednesday, the court heard a case about a burial plot on a Pennsylvania farm, a seemingly small dispute that in reality could have a big effect in California and elsewhere.

Rose Knick sued after her township told her she must allow visitors to cross her land to see the burial site. With the help of the Pacific Legal Foundation, based in Sacramento, she took her case to federal court and argued that the local regulation violated her rights under the 5th Amendment, which says private property [shall not] be taken for public use without just compensation.

In the lower courts, to no ones surprise, Knick lost. The Supreme Court had set a procedural rule in 1985 that said property owners must go first to state courts to challenge land-use rules and seek compensation. That rule barred Knicks suit in federal court, but property rights advocates want the rule overturned.

On Wednesday, an attorney from Pacific Legal, joined by a top Trump administration lawyer, urged the justices to allow property owners to skip over the state courts and go directly to federal court. Several of the courts conservatives have called for such a move. If they can form a majority with the addition of Kavanaugh, developers and property owners could go to federal court to challenge all manner of zoning and development restrictions.

In California, that would probably mean more challenges to the states rules on development in the coastal zone.

Kavanaughs arrival will probably also bolster the administration in its effort to fend off at least three significant legal challenges that are making their way to the high court.

One case involves the presidents decision to repeal the Obama-era order that shields so-called Dreamers  immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children  from deportation.

A second case challenges the Commerce Departments decision to add a question on citizenship to the 2020 census, a move that Californias lawyers say could lead to an undercount of the population.

In the third case, lawyers for transgender members of the military, and other transgender people who want to enlist, are fighting the White Houses order to sharply restrict their ability to serve.

In all three cases, lower-court judges have blocked the administration, at least temporarily, and its lawyers are trying to get the cases before the Supreme Court in this term.

For many pro-business conservatives, the most talked-about issue on the agenda for a more conservative court is reining in the administrative state and the regulations that arise from federal agencies.

Progressives praise rules that protect the environment, consumers, workers and investors from corporations and Wall Street; conservatives complain about dense and costly rules that are handed down by unelected bureaucrats.

On the appeals court, Kavanaugh was a strong advocate for giving the president and judges more power to curb regulations.

For social conservatives, abortion and religious liberty remain the top issues. Within a year or so, the court is likely to face a decision on whether to overturn or scale back the right to abortion  the question on which OConnor and Kennedy split with their more conservative colleagues.

In recent years, the justices dealt with several disputes over abortion. Those cases arose when Kennedy held the deciding vote. He made clear he would uphold limited regulation of the procedure, but not measures that blocked or outlawed abortions entirely.

Now, with Kavanaugh sitting as his replacement, antiabortion lawyers in conservative states will press to prohibit abortion. Those laws will almost surely be struck down by federal judges because they violate Roe vs. Wade.

But the eventual appeal would then head to the Supreme Court, forcing the chief justice and his colleagues to confront the issue that has rallied conservatives since the 1980s and helped elevate them to the high court.

david.savage@latimes.com

Twitter: DavidGSavage

The latest from Washington 
Perhaps the single most important fact to know about Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who broke Republican ranks on Friday to oppose putting Judge Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court, is that she once won reelection after losing the partys nomination  running independently as a write-in candidate.

Her vote against Kavanaugh is hardly without risk. Soon after Murkowski announced it, former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin tweeted, Hey @LisaMurkowski - I can see 2022 from my house...  suggesting she would challenge the senator for what would be Murkowskis fourth full term.

Yet Murkowski has vanquished Palin, by proxy, before. In 2010, Palin supported the Tea Party candidate who beat Murkowski for nomination, only to see Murkowski defeat him with the first successful Senate write-in candidacy in more than half a century.

If Murkowskis electoral history helps explain her independence of her party on the Kavanaugh vote, so do other factors.

Advertisement

She is a moderate Republican who favors abortion rights; Kavanaughs record suggests he could be a vote against them.

Native Alaskans are key supporters and donors for her; Kavanaugh, on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, has ruled against native groups. And just last week, Murkowski in a #MeToo moment of her own disclosed to Alaska Public Media that she has suffered unspecified sexual abuse.

Though generally a reliable Republican vote, backing President Trumps tax cuts and energy deregulation, for example, Murkowski opposed repeal of the Affordable Care Act. With Maine Sen. Susan Collins, she was one of two Republicans to oppose Betsy DeVos as Education secretary, causing a tie vote that Vice President Pence had to break. A supporter of liberalized immigration, she has called Trumps policy of separating families at the border cruel.

Murkowski told reporters her vote against Kavanaugh was the most difficult decision shed ever made.

I believe we are dealing with issues right now that are bigger than a nominee and how we can ensure that our institutions, not only the legislative branch but our judicial branch, continue to be respected, she said.

I believe he is a good man, she added. It just may be that in my view hes not the right man for the court at this time.

Murkowski, 61, is the daughter of a former U.S. senator and Alaska governor, Frank Murkowski. Her family name, not her Republican pedigree, has been pivotal to her political career.

When her father resigned from the Senate to become governor in 2002, he appointed his daughter  then majority leader of the Alaska House  to replace him. (The nepotism controversy that sparked led to a state law stripping future governors of such power). She was elected to a full six-year Senate term in 2004, narrowly beating a former Democratic governor.

In 2010, after narrowly losing the Republican primary to Joe Miller, who had Palins backing, Murkowski quickly mounted a write-in campaign that included a memorable television ad depicting a young girl winning a spelling bee by getting Murkowski right. She beat Miller by four percentage points.

In 2016, Murkowski easily won renomination and was reelected to a third full term. She did not, however, endorse Donald Trump for president.

As chairman of both the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Appropriations Committees subcommittee on the interior and environment, Murkowski is a close ally of the oil and gas industries that are so prominent in her state and a bane of environmental groups. She is married and has two sons.
Being a victim of sexual assault or of sexual harassment in the workplace can do more than crush a young soul and stunt a rising career. New research finds that the experience of sexual violence or intimidation can take a toll on womens physical and mental health years later, at a crucial juncture.

A study published this week in JAMA Internal Medicine finds that women between the ages of 40 and 60 who reported an experience of sexual assault at some point in their lives were nearly three times as likely as other women to have significant depressive symptoms, and more than twice as likely to suffer anxiety problems.

Researchers also found that women who said they had been subjected to sexual harassment were more than twice as likely to have untreated high blood pressure than were women who did not experience such harassment.

And women with a history of either sexual assault or sexual harassment were roughly twice as likely to suffer sleep problems at midlife than their counterparts who did not report gender-based mistreatment.

Advertisement

The 304 women who participated in the study were enrolled in a research project about menopausal hot flashes and atherosclerosis, a condition characterized by a buildup of plaque that causes arteries to harden. All of the women lived in the Pittsburgh area, and researchers cautioned that they may not be representative of American women as a whole.

About 20% of the Pittsburgh women reported having been sexually harassed or sexually assaulted. Thats lower than the national average.

Nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention has found that roughly 36% of women have been forced or pressured into unwanted sexual contact, and its estimated that somewhere between 40% and 75% of women have experienced gender-based physical or verbal harassment at work.

This is a massive number of women, so its an enormous public health issue, said study leader Rebecca C. Thurston, a psychologist and epidemiologist at the University of Pittsburgh. If we want to prevent mental health problems, sleep problems and hypertension, I think we really need to think about these toxic exposures women are experiencing at the workplace and elsewhere.

Were reaching a point where we cant ignore whats going on anymore, she added.

This array of health problems at midlife does not augur well for womens well-being in their senior years, either. Hypertension in middle age raises a womans risk of heart disease, stroke and dementia. Depression and anxiety are also linked to poorer heart and brain health as women age.

And poor sleep quality is linked to  and in many cases, thought to contribute to  a number of health ills ranging from obesity and metabolic disorders to dementia.

Of the 304 participants, 58 (or 19%) said they had been sexually harassed at work, and 67 (or 22%) said they had been sexually assaulted; 10% of the women reported both.

In the Pittsburgh sample, women with a history of sexual harassment were more highly educated than was the norm among participants, but they also reported more financial strain.

Among the study participants with no reported history of sexual assault, roughly 12% experienced symptoms of depression and approximately 23% had clinical anxiety. Poor sleep afflicted roughly 40% of participants who reported no sexual assaults.

In women with a past experience of sexual assault, however, rates of depressive symptoms jumped to 25%, clinical anxiety rose to 40%, and poor sleep ticked up to about 57%.

After adjusting for factors that influence womens risk for those conditions  including age, ethnicity, education and body mass index  the researchers determined that the risk of depressive symptoms was 2.86 times greater in women who had been sexually assaulted. The risk of anxiety was 2.26 times greater and the risk of poor sleep was 2.15 times greater.

About 18% of women who had not experienced workplace sexual harassment had untreated hypertension. But in women with a history of having been harassed at work, rates of high blood pressure jumped to about 23%. That was 2.36 times higher after researchers accounted for other factors that are linked to hypertension risk in women.

About 28% of women who had not been sexually harassed reported sleep difficulties, compared with 36% of those who had. That was 1.89 times higher after adjustment for other contributing factors.

The links identified in the new research are not evidence that sexual misconduct causes women to experience poorer health. But they are consistent with a wealth of research that has established severe health consequences among those who have suffered trauma and its stresses, said Patricia Resick, a sexual trauma researcher at Duke University who wasnt involved in the study.

The findings dont surprise me, she said.

Thurston said that while the corrosive effects of sexual assault on victims mental health were widely expected, it was less clear why women reporting sexual harassment in the workplace would be so much more likely than other women to have high blood pressure (which was defined as systolic blood pressure at or above 130 mmHG or diastolic blood pressure at or above 80 mmHG). She noted that women are most likely to be victims of sexual assault during their adolescence and young adulthood, while sexual harassment in the workplace tends to happen when a woman is a bit older.

The magnitude of the increase in systolic blood pressure that was seen in women with a history of sexual harassment is estimated to increase her risk for a heart attack, stroke or other symptoms of cardiovascular disease by 20%.

The study was presented Wednesday at the annual meeting of the North American Menopause Society in San Diego.

melissa.healy@latimes.com

@LATMelissaHealy
A mini version of a mini version of a symphony orchestra will perform at the intimate Samueli Theater in Costa Mesa on Oct. 10.

The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble, presented by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, will consist of an octet culled from the somewhat larger Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, a chamber orchestra constructed along the lines of a symphony orchestra thats been a leader in offering Baroque and classical works, as played by a smaller forces, for almost 60 years. (The full Academy, with music director Joshua Bell, visited the Segerstrom Concert Hall the March before last.)

But the times, they are a-changing, and the Academy ihas to change with them: Two-thirds of the program will be contemporary (read: 20th century).

Weve had players of very high standards who were, are, in chamber-music groups, so we are always reacting to one another, which keeps this group fresh, said Stephen Orton, principal cellist of the Academy since 1984, who will play with the other four string and three wind players in works by Carl Nielsen, Jean Francaix  the contemporary portions of the program  and Franz Schubert.

Co-founded by Sir Neville Marriner in 1959 as the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields (the hyphens eventually falling off), the group performed its first concert in November of that year in St. Martin-in-the-Fields, an Anglican church in Westminster, London, after which the group was named. At the time it was then the only game in town playing Baroque and Classical works by no more than 40 musicians.

Playing anywhere from 150 to 200 concerts a year, it helped spark a renewed interest in music of those eras. The Academys Chamber Ensemble, giving up to 20 concerts a year, was formed in 1967 to play chamber music larger than the typical string quartet literature.

But now, you cant do that same [Baroque/Classical] repertoire, it wouldnt be viable to do that, as the early-music people took that over, continued Orton, who also plays with the Chilingirian String Quartet. So the Academy had to make a few tweaks in setting the repertoire, such as doing more modern pieces. We dont do a lot of modern pieces, but we have a mixture. And we do have Sally Beamish, who used to play viola with us, as our composer-in-residence, and we play newly commissioned works of hers.

The first is quite a fun piece  and a bit unusual, Orton said of Nielsens Serenata in vano, a 1914 quintet for clarinet, bassoon, French horn, cello and double-bass. Its about these gentlemen who sing a serenade to a lady who ignores them. Theyre trying to impress her, one after the other, but it doesnt work, and they finally realize theyve been serenading her in vain (hence, the title), and the gentlemen then go off like a village band, rushing away. Its rather humorous and it should appeal to the audience.

Francaix modeled his 1972 Octet on that of Schubert, as both are scored for clarinet, bassoon, French horn and string quintet (two violins, one each of viola, cello and double-bass).

Its a lovely, light-hearted piece of some 20 minutes, Orton said of Francaix Octet, where the last movement reminds you of a Viennese music hall or a French cafe, and has a waltz that keeps coming back.

The centerpiece of the program, Schuberts Octet in F Major, D. 893, takes up the entire second half of the evening and lasts almost an hour.

Majestic is how Orton described this 1824 work.

You look at every aspect: its got beautiful melodies, fantastic harmonies, a lot of interplay between strings and winds, he said. It has charm and different moods throughout. Its very appealing to play and very appealing to listen to.

And yes, its also very long. But its just one of the greatest pieces ever written for a chamber musician such as myself to play.

Michael Rydzynski is a contributor to Times Community News.

IF YOU GO

What: Philharmonic Society of Orange County presents the Academy of St. Martin the Fields Chamber Ensemble

When: 8 p.m. Wednesday, October 10

Where: Samueli Theatre, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa

Cost: Tickets start at $38

Information: (714) 556-2787 and scfta.org
Within the next two months, the Glendale Unified School District should find out if another attempt by some residents living in the Sagebrush area in La Canada Flintridge to separate and join La Canada Unified will be successful.

That announcement was made during a review of a California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, study Wednesday morning at the Los Angeles County Office of Education, or LACOE.

We will let you know when were going to have a meeting to take a final vote on this, committee member AJ Willmer said. I suspect its going to be 60 days from now.

The CEQA study was commissioned after the county committee gave preliminary approval to a transfer petition in May 2017. The studys purpose was to evaluate potential impacts resulting from the proposed transfer.

The most recent attempt marks the fourth petition for a transfer since 1961.

The 66-page study noted that if the transfer is approved, between roughly 355 and about 151 students may move from Glendale Unifieds Mountain Avenue Elementary School, Rosemont Middle School and Crescenta Valley High School to La Canada Unifieds Palm Crest Elementary and La Canada High, which offers middle school services.

CEQAs study concluded that the transfer would have no impact in several areas, including aesthetics, air quality, cultural resources, noise, population and housing, recreation as well as utility and service systems.

However, some areas such as public services, transportation and traffic are expected to be impacted.

The majority of the 36 area residents and officials who spoke at Wednesdays meeting advocated for the transfer, led by La Canada Unified Supt. Wendy Sinnette and Mayor Terry Walker.

We just want to be able to be part of our local school district, be part of our local community and essentially youve heard from us a heartfelt please to get this done, said Sagebrush parent Christina Tusan.

We have students who are transferred, and we dont know if Glendale Unified will continue approving individual transfers, she added.

Glendale Unified did have a few speakers, including district Supt. Winfred B. Roberson Jr., who was joined by board members Shant Sahakian, Jennifer Freemon and Armina Gharpetian. Talin Arsenian, president of the Glendale Teachers Assn., also spoke.

We have made an arrangement for any family that wishes to transfer to be able to transfer, Roberson said. That has been a compromise that has been reached between the districts.

He added about the transfer of the entire 380-acre Sagebrush area, Theres been no educational reason for this. We have seen financial reasons, but no educational reasons.

Exactly how many students live in the Sagebrush community was a point of contention.

The CEQA study used Glendale Unifieds figures, which listed 356 students during the 2016-17 school year attended Glendale Unified schools.

Stephen Dickinson, Glendale Unifieds chief business and financial officer, calculated that a loss of 356 students translates into a $2.7 million annual hit in state funding. He added that while that was only 1% of the districts budget, it is equivalent to 27 teachers salaries.

That student population estimate admittedly used a worse-case scenario approach, said Kevin Ferrier, with Terry A. Hayes Associates Inc., the firm that conducted the study.

La Canada countered that the number of Sagebrush students attending Glendale Unified was around 151.

The meeting on Wednesday was a continuation of a process that began June 2016, when LACOE received a transfer petition from Tom Smith and Nalini Lasiewicz, backed by the group UniteLCF!

One blow to UniteLCF!s efforts came when committee secretary Keith Crafton, the LACOE director of business advisory services, clarified that the committee never formally endorsed the transfer.

At the May 2017 meeting, a number of preliminary or straw votes were taken  all non-binding as the committee discussed each of the conditions used to analyze the petition, Crafton said. The request to let the petition move forward and have a CEQA conducted is in no way an approval.

Although she is on the opposite side of the collective-bargaining table from Roberson, Arsenian said she felt compelled to speak.

The petitioners are asking for what they already have, she said. The petitioners are already sending their students to the La Canada Unified School District. Unfortunately, they want to make decisions for the other parents that live in Sagebrush.

andrew.campa@latimes.com

Twitter @campadresports
Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov showed he is ready to face Conor McGregor at UFC 229 by being the first on the scale Friday morning. He weighed in at the 155-pound limit Friday.

An hour later, Irelands McGregor weighed in at 154.5 pounds and emphasized his own preparedness for Saturdays match by roaring out a primal scream accompanied by a look of rage while atop the scale.

Russias Nurmagomedov (26-0) left Thursdays news conference early before former two-division champion McGregor (21-3) arrived, saying he needed to start his weight-cutting process. In March 2017, Nurmagomedov fell ill during his weight cut and had to withdraw versus Tony Ferguson.

I want him to make weight, McGregor said upon his later arrival.

Advertisement

Friday marked the third consecutive fight that Nurmagomedov has arrived in the first group of the morning weigh-in, and hes dominated in those clashes, defeating then-top-five-ranked Edson Barboza and most recently claiming the belt stripped from McGregor in April by overwhelming replacement foe Al Iaquinta.

McGregor previously stood as 145-pound featherweight champion in 2015 by knocking out Jose Aldo, and he fought two bouts against Nate Diaz at 170 pounds in 2016.

The ceremonial weigh-in, where both fighters will meet in a face-off at T-Mobile Arena, is scheduled for Friday afternoon.

lance.pugmire@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimespugmire
The ex-wife of former Clippers player Lorenzen Wright is mentally competent to stand trial in connection with his killing, according to an evaluation read in court Friday.

Sherra Wright and Billy Ray Turner were charged in December with shooting Lorenzen Wright to death in a Memphis field in July 2010 to collect on a $1 million life insurance policy. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Shelby County, Tennessee, Judge Lee Coffee ordered Sherra Wright to undergo a mental examination in August. It followed several jailhouse incidents involving Wright, including one where she stripped naked, attempted to stuff items into a toilet to flood the cell and told guards she was going swimming, yall.

Wright, who lived in Murrieta at the time of her arrest, is being held in lieu of $20-million bail.

Advertisement

He was a first-round draft pick in the NBA. 14 years later, he was found dead. Who killed Lorenzen Wright? 

On Friday, Coffee said the evaluation by Dr. Wyatt Nichols found Wright to be sane at the time of her ex-husbands death, she is able to understand the legal proceedings and assist in her defense.

It wasnt a surprise, Wrights attorney Juni Ganguli said in an email. The burden for finding someone competent to stand trial is low.

Ganguli told the court the defense team is still reviewing evidence. The material, which totals about four gigabytes, includes witness statements, wiretap transcripts and other documents.

The next hearing is scheduled for late November.

nathan.fenno@latimes.com

Twitter: @nathanfenno
Like to travel solo? Two cruise lines have expanded their singles-sailing programs, offering deals for passengers who dont like to share a cabin.

Star Clippers and Crystal Cruises have announced cruise deals for singles beginning as early as November.

Star Clippers, known for its tall ships and billowing sails, is waiving single supplements on select 2018-2019 voyages, including cruises in the Mediterranean and Caribbean, and to Thailand and Indonesia.

Among the deals are three- to 14-night sailings in the Caribbean, departing between December and March 2019, with fares starting at $600 per person. Those looking for last-minute trips to Europe can choose from seven- and nine-night sailings in the Mediterranean, including itineraries in Greece, France, Italy and Spain, starting at $1,690 per person with no single supplement.

Advertisement

If Southeast Asia is on your bucket list, Star Clippers has seven-night Thailand itineraries out of Phuket, or Singapore itineraries, between November and April 2019, at rates from $1,600.

Crystal Cruises and Crystal River Cruises have announced bargains on more than three dozen upcoming cruises with solo fares starting at 110% to 130% of regular fares. (Singles often pay rates of 200%, meaning they pay for a second party in their room, even though there isnt one.)

Featured ocean voyages range from seven to 26 days; featured Crystal River Cruises trips range from seven to 16 days.

Prospective Crystal passengers must call for details and pricing.

During the remainder of this year, the line says, singles bargains will be available for solos on Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity on voyages to the Mediterranean, New England and Canada, South America, the Caribbean and the Pacific Coast.

In 2019, the cruise line will offer deals for singles sailings to South America, Australia and New Zealand, Africa, and Hawaii and the South Pacific.

Crystal River Cruises will offer solo bargains on cruises on the Danube and Rhine rivers, sailing from Vienna, Budapest, Basel and Amsterdam.

travel@latimes.com
Whether you prefer pumpkins for carving or for pie, youve got to stock up on at least a few to get into the spooky spirit. Here are five fully stocked pumpkin patches across the country  and all have a lot more going on than just gourds.

California

Pomona Fairplexs Pumpkin Nights is not your average pumpkin patch. The event has pumpkins for purchase, but its main attraction is its eight interactive Pumpkin Lands, created from more than 3,000 carved, illuminated pumpkins (both real and foam). Dig for treasure at Pumpkin Pirate Cove, where pirates guard pumpkin loot, or find fire dancers, movie screenings, seasonal treats and more at Pumpkin Central. Theres even a Harry Potter land with an owl meet-and-greet.

Cost, info: Tickets $12-$20; family packs from $40. Pumpkin Nights, 1101 W. McKinley Ave., Pomona; pumpkinnights.com/los-angeles. Open daily 5-10 p.m., Oct. 12- Nov. 4.

Advertisement

Oregon

Youll want to leave your pumpkin gathering for the end of your visit to the Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island, 30 minutes northwest of Portland. Go for a hay ride, navigate a hay maze, visit the animal barn and pick out a souvenir before fueling up with caramel apples at the cafe. Besides pumpkins, the patch also sells beets, winter squash, pears, Brussels sprouts and other fall produce.

Cost, info: Free admission. Pumpkin Patch, 16511 N.W. Gillihan Road, Portland; (503) 621-3874, thepumpkinpatch.com. Open daily 9 a.m.-6 p.m.

Utah

The Petersen Family Farm in Riverton has pumpkins miniature and massive, smooth and warty and in many hues. Post-patch, choose a wagon ride, stroll through the greenhouse and have fun with apple slingshots. You can also use an old-fashioned popcorn crank, which separates corn kernels from the cob. Take the kernels with you to pop at home.

Cost, info: $5 admission. Petersen Family Farm, 11887 S. 4000 West, Riverton; (801) 999-8548,petersenfamilyfarm.com. Open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays, Saturdays; 9 a.m.-9.p.m. Fridays through Oct. 31.

Minnesota

Make a day of Dehns Pumpkin Patch in Dayton, which has a 10-acre patch and plenty of activities to wear out the little ones: a corn pit (a giant sandbox filled with corn kernels instead of sand), a pumpkin-shaped bounce house, an inflatable slide and a corn maze, to name a few. Dont miss the snack shack for hot mini doughnuts and cheese curds. Check the website for activity prices, which vary by day.

Cost, info: $7 admission on weekends; free during the week. Dehns Pumpkin Patch, 17270 125th Ave. N., Dayton; (763) 420-6859, dehnspumpkins.com. Open daily 9 a.m.-7 p.m. through Oct. 31.

South Carolina

Bush-N-Vine farm is the place to be on Saturdays in York. Take a hayride from the entrance to the pumpkin patch and pick a pumpkin straight from the field. Farm fun includes apple cider, bounce houses, cornhole game and food trucks  plus live music and hot-air balloon rides on select days. Pack a lunch to eat at the picnic tables.

Cost, info: $5 admission. Bush-N-Vine, 1650 Filbert Highway, York; (803) 684-2732, bushnvinefarm.com. Open 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays-Fridays; 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturdays through Oct. 31.
The Embassy of South Korea in Cairo celebrated National Foundation Day at the residence of the Ambassador of the Republic of South Korea to Egypt Yoon Yeocheolin in Maadi on 3 October.

The event was attended by senior state officials and media personnel.

National Foundation Day is a public holiday observed by South Korea to commemorate the founding of Korea, and its people.

The event commenced with a speech by the ambassador of South Korea in the presence of Sahar Nasr, Minister of Investment and International Cooperation, Osama Heikel, Chairman of Information Committee of the Egyptian Parliament and his Egyptian friends and colleagues from the Diplomatic Corps, among others.

He then continued his speech saying, Let me thank H.E. President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, who has kindly sent his message of congratulations on our national day to H.E. President Moon, his government and the Korean people. This most kind gesture is the proof of our solid friendship and will be very much appreciated by all of us. The date of 3 October is called Gae Cheon Jeol in Korea, literally meaning the day when the Heaven opened.

"Every nation has a myth about its origin. Ours tells us that the son of Heavenly emperor descended on the Earth, on the Korean peninsula, and his son established the very first kingdom of Korean people, in 2,333 B.C. Maybe we dont want to admit to ourselves that Korea is just one of so many new republics born after the World War II and declare with pride our history of thousands of years. But to my mind, we celebrate National Foundation Day to remind ourselves of the philosophy of the Founder: Hong Ik Ingan. I think we all share the noble belief that state and its institutions are all meant to benefit humans.

Of course, when it comes to old history or kingdoms, we cannot compete with Egyptians. We don't have pyramids or sphinx to back up the story of the first kingdom written by later dynasties in Korea. Even in the year 2,333 B.C., the Pyramids in Giza were more than 200 years old! But Korea and Egypt shared the same destiny of young republics to shed the shadows of old kingdoms and embark on the journey of making peoples lives better with a new vision and determination.

As such, Korea and Egypt have been close friends for a long time, though our official relationship started as late as 1995. At the first press conference I had two weeks after my arrival, I declared that Korea highly appreciates Egypt, not only for its glorious history and civilization of pyramids and sphinx but also for the important role Egypt plays for regional peace and security and its exemplary society of openness, tolerance and diversity. Particularly after the historic visit by H.E. President Al-Sisi to Korea in March 2016, and the adoption of comprehensive cooperation partnership, our bilateral relations have developed very rapidly, Yeocheol added.

The evening celebrations included cutting the national day cake by Yeocheol and his wife, together with Assistant Foreign Minister for Asian Affairs Ambassador Khaled Sarwat, Chairman of the Egypt-Korea Business Council Khaled Mohamed Nosseir, Head of the Egyptian-Korean Friendship Association Alaa Fahmy, Counselor Hany Abdel-Gabbar, governor of Beni Sweif and Osama Heikel, Chairman of Information Committee of the Egyptian Parliament.

The event was enlivened by the performance of the Korean Percussion troupe Jin Myung.

To mark this occasion, the troupe gave performances at the Cairo Opera House Main Hall on 30 September and on 2 October at the Alexandria Opera House Sayed Darwish Theatre.

Search Keywords:

Short link:


Fifteen-year-old Robert Bly and his dog spent three weeks hitchhiking around California in 1935.

A story in the Aug. 13, 1935, Los Angeles Times explained:

With 30 cents in his pocket, Robert Bly, 15-year-old Eagle Rock High School youth, returned home yesterday from a three weeks hitchhiking, hunting and fishing trip on which he was accompanied by his 7-year-old bull terrier, Don.

At the home of his parents ... (in) Eagle Rock, the red-haired youth expressed sorrow that his father, Frank Bly, is seriously injured in the King City Hospital. The parent sustained a fractured arm and severe bruises in an automobile accident near that city while rushing north to greet his son after the latter had been detained by San Francisco police following a State-wide police search for the missing youth.

Young Bly left home three weeks ago last Saturday morning with $5, which his parents had given him for spending money at a Boy Scout camp, his dog, a gun, a blanket, a frying pan and a fishing pole.

The first day he caught a ride to Tulare, he said yesterday. There he found a camping place in a culvert, shot a jackrabbit on which he and the dog made their dinner, and stayed through the night.

On the rest of the trip he shot other rabbits and reaching Grants Pass, Or., he caught trout in the Rogue River for his meals. There he made the acquaintance of a youth on a ranch whose mother mended his overalls.

After writing to his parents to tell them where he was, he started homeward. Catching a ride on a truck he lost his pack but he and the dog managed to live on the small amount of money he had, sleeping out nights without a blanket.

In San Francisco police detained him, but he was released after his fathers accident and when his mother informed them he could be trusted to return home.

Following his 1935 adventure, there is no further mention of Robert Bly in the Los Angeles Times.

See more from the Los Angeles Times archives here
A week after a magnitude 7.5 earthquake and tsunami devastated this Indonesian coastal town, emergency workers equipped with excavators Friday dug through the rubble of a shopping complex where hundreds of people were feared to have been buried.

Broken glasses and other personal items were visible in the ruins, and a sickly smell hung in the air outside what remained of the multistory Ramayana mall, the biggest in Palu, where residents said as many as 250 people were inside when the quake struck Sept. 28.

That relief teams were still digging for bodies seven days after the disaster illustrated what many residents said was the slow pace of the recovery effort. At least 1,571 people were killed, according to the latest official reports, and tens of thousands left homeless.

A crew of French firefighters said they did not find signs of life in the debris of the five-story Mercure hotel, where 40 people had been reported missing. A day earlier, the crew from the nongovernmental International Emergency Firefighters said its high-tech sensor had detected the presence of a victim beneath piles of concrete. Later, though, the group said that appeared to have been a false reading.

Advertisement

Residents walk through a hard-hit section of Palu. (Ulet Ifansasti / Getty Images)

Hopes of finding more survivors were fading, and officials appeared close to calling off the search for bodies, which so far has been the main focus of the emergency teams.

Residents gathered near the coastline of Palu, the capital of Central Sulawesi province in eastern Indonesia, and held an evening prayer, a solemn weekly ritual observed for the first time since the disaster.

In many areas near the beaches, residents said that help had yet to arrive and that they have been forced to survive on bananas, the only available food. Some still wore the same clothes they had on the day of the earthquake.

Some had watched the tsunami, which reached 20 feet high in some places, carry away their loved ones. It was as if the sea came to eat them, one person said.

Aid was trickling in slowly from Palus damaged airport, which was receiving a limited number of military relief flights, and by road from Makassar, a drive of up to 24 hours. Some agencies had begun to send supplies via Balikpapan, on the island of Borneo, from which it could take 20 hours by ferry to reach Palu.

Some survivors, growing frustrated, were leaving on scooters or on foot to find shelter in nearby relief camps, which were swelling with new arrivals. Aid workers said they feared that communicable diseases could spread, particularly with a lack of electricity, which remains cut off in much of the area.

Pregnant women and the elderly, and some children carrying only pillows and backpacks, boarded military aircraft to Makassar, but they were unsure of where they would go from there.

Some children had been separated from their parents and were left to beg for help along the main road into Palu, said Dini Widiastuti, executive director of Yayasan Plan International Indonesia, an aid agency.

Gasoline was also in short supply, and drinking water remained scarce. Some shops had reopened and were providing rice and bottled water, and cellphone service had been restored across the area.

Still, aid agencies were struggling to reach survivors because of the damaged roads in and around Palu, some of which all but vanished when the quake caused the earth to dissolve into a quicksand-like muck, a phenomenon known as liquefaction.

It is difficult to move aid around; the airport is operating but limited, Widiastuti said.

Warehousing, storage, channels of transportation, these are all difficult.

Wahyu Widayanto, emergency response coordinator for the relief agency CARE, said the agency was buying blankets, tarps, water buckets and water purification kits in Makassar and looking for ways to move the supplies quickly into Palu.

There are currently only two banks that have reopened and just some small food stores, which arent sufficient for the community here, Widayanto said. Gasoline is limited, and drinking water is a problem and a real basic need.

Special correspondents Seth and Roughneen reported from Palu and Jakarta, respectively. Times staff writer Shashank Bengali in Mumbai, India, contributed to this report.
A few days before Romanians were to decide whether to change the constitution to ban same-sex marriage, Texas-based lawyer Peter Costea was busy crisscrossing the country, looking for votes.

In this northeastern Romanian city, he made the rounds, meeting the mayor and religious leaders in the Romanian Orthodox and Catholic churches. A 61-year-old Romanian American, Costea chatted easily in Romanian with medical students as he handed out literature about Saturdays ballot initiative.

It wasnt the first time Costea had campaigned against gay marriage here. Thirteen years ago, he worked with local Christian groups in the first push for a constitutional amendment declaring that marriage is a union between a man and a woman. That effort failed.

This time, hes backed by far more firepower. Costea turned to the Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona-based association that has emerged as an influential legal force for the American religious right  part of a larger pattern of conservative evangelical and other Christian groups finding fertile new ground for pressing an agenda against marriage between same-sex partners.

Advertisement

U.S. religious-right groups see the culture war as a global struggle, and they are increasing their impact around the world, said Peter Montgomery, senior fellow at the Washington-based liberal advocacy group People for the American Way. Eastern Europe, he said, is a particularly attractive target, because of a backlash against the socially progressive policies of the European Union.

As greater rights for gay people have taken hold elsewhere  including the United States, where the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide in 2015, and India, where a gay-sex ban was struck down last month  conservative groups in Romania are hoping to stem the tide.

Its a way of protecting our children in front of this whole concept of gender ideology, said Mihai Gheorghiu of the Coalition for Families, the consortium of religious nonprofit groups in Romania leading the charge on the referendum.

That meshes perfectly with the goals of Christian conservatives in the U.S.

We are supporting our brothers and sisters, who are standing up to protect marriage and family, said Brian Brown of the International Organization for the Family, a U.S.-based group that opposes same-sex marriage.

In Romania, the 2006 campaign failed because it did not meet the required threshold for signatures. But nine years later, the effort was revived  thanks in large part to the lobbying efforts of some of Americas largest conservative Christian groups, including Liberty Counsel and the European branch of Pat Robertsons American Center for Law and Justice.

Human rights groups and the Southern Poverty Law Center say the legal arms of these groups, once criticized for their involvement in promoting anti-gay legislation in Africa and South America, have been emboldened by Donald Trumps presidency.

Within days of Trumps election victory, the Coalition for Families was contacted by higher-ups in the Romanian government to say that things had changed in Romania because things had changed in the White House, Costea said. They promised to help jump-start the referendum campaign, he said.

To that end, the Alliance Defending Freedom has held conferences and run an informational campaign backing the Coalition of Familiesto promote the Romanian measure. Along with Liberty Counsel, it also submitted friend-of-the-court memos to Romanias Constitutional Court.

The saga playing out in Romania is part of a wider regional pattern. Croatia and Slovenia have passed similar measures defining marriage as being between a man and a woman, and initiatives elsewhere have sought to champion traditional definitions of family.

As conservative-populist movements have gained political ground across Europe, the U.S. religious right is finding common cause with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has formed a close bond with the Russian Orthodox Church to burnish an image of Russia as a stronghold of Christian values.

In some ways, Romanias constitutional change would be symbolic, because same-sex marriage is not recognized there. But proponents of the measure say it would affirm the countrys traditional values.

The European Court of Justice has ruled that all European Union countries  of which Romania is one  must recognize the legal rights of same-sex marriages granted in other countries within the bloc. EU member countries are allowed to define marriage as they choose, however, and none of the former Warsaw Pact countries in the bloc have legalized same-sex marriage.

Last month, Romanias Constitutional Court did rule that gay couples should have the same family rights as heterosexuals in matters such as inheritance and medical issues.

A key umbrella organization for the fight against same-sex marriage has been the World Congress of Families, an Illinois-based, conservative Christian alliance jointly founded by Russian and Western religious groups that bills itself as uniting leaders worldwide in defense of faith, family and freedom.

You have the American right that is spreading their wings with all these connections they have with Russia or with other conservative groups, said Vlad Viski of Mozaiq, a Romanian nonprofit supporting the LGBTQ community.

Another Romanian gay rights advocate, Florin Buhuceanu, wrote in a 2016 report for the European Center for Public Initiatives: With heavy support offered by their American counterparts, the religious rights ambition in eastern Europe is to encourage, prepare and initiate a de-secularization process, dismantling piece-by-piece the most important elements of liberal citizenship.

Lawyers from Liberty Counsel, the U.S. group that defended Kentucky court clerk Kim Davis when she refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, have been in Romania to work with Christian groups and conservative lawmakers to lobby for the constitutional change.

Gheorghiu, of the Coalition for Families, said the group invited Davis and international religious rights groups to Romania not for financial help, but to lend political guidance and expertise.

Liberty Counsels vice president of legal affairs and chief litigation counsel, Horatio Mihet, is a Romanian American who traveled to Romania with Davis last spring.

Mihet defended Davis in her 2015 case, and Mihet and Davis traveled across Romania to give talks and lectures over the course of 10 days, he said in a telephone interview. The pair came at the invitation of the Coalition for Families.

Mihet hotly denied human rights groups accusations that Liberty Counsel and other U.S. groups are exporting harmful prejudices, and he called a hate-group designation by the Southern Poverty Law Center an unfortunate label used to shut down debate.

A woman walks by an information tent set up outside the Metropolitan Cathedral in Iasi, Romania, in support of an Oct. 6 referendum on changing Romanias constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. (Sabra Ayres / Los Angeles Times)

The Coalition for Families, formed in 2014, used its expansive church-based network two years later to gather more than 3 million signatures  far exceeding the required 500,000  to initiate the constitutional referendum.

Romania decriminalized homosexuality in 2001, and gay rights advocates said the country has slowly become more open. The annual gay pride parade has gone from 500 participants in 2000 to almost 10,000 this year.

Opponents of this weekends referendum are urging a boycott of the vote  a move meant to dampen the initiatives chances of garnering the needed 30% turnout and at least 5 million votes in favor. Balloting will last for two days starting Saturday.

Many said they believed the referendum effort would never have advanced this far had it not been for the efforts of the U.S. conservative groups.

The Orthodox Church would not have had the organization or power to transform this idea into action, said Vlad Alexandrescu, a Romanian senator from a small opposition party that has come out against the referendum. He cited American influence as a crucial factor.

But Brown, of the International Organization for the Family, insisted that the American groups are only playing a supporting role, not orchestrating the campaign. We are open, we are honest, and we are clear that we are helping. But in no way are we leading this effort, he said.

Cultural and social factors help make Romania particularly receptive to the conservative aims underpinning the referendum drive.

Its population of 22 million is considered one of the most religious and conservative in Europe. The Orthodox Church plays a dominant role in Romanian social life, particularly in rural areas.

Its also one of the poorest countries in the European Union, suffering from an exodus of young Romanians who leave the country for work elsewhere within the bloc. Concern has grown about an increasing number of children growing up without fathers or mothers, as unemployed parents look outside the country for jobs.

Corruption has sparked mass protests in Romania in the last year, and some said they saw politicians push to hold the referendum as a distraction from the real issues in the country. The referendum will cost a reported $46 million to put on.

I think there are a lot of other things the government could use that money for  things we actually need, like schools and hospitals, said Loriya Ionescu, 54, a teacher in Bucharest. I think this is a waste of time and money.

Referendum supporters have played up fears that same-sex marriage could contribute to an already declining population or pave the way for other liberalizing measures.

Costea insisted the referendum is not motivated by homophobia or judging peoples lifestyles. instead, he said, it is about Romanians creating a civic movement, a step entirely appropriate for a young democracy.

Who would have thought 30 years ago that something like gay marriage would have caught on? Costea said. We are trying to solidify our belief before it spreads more.

Special correspondent Ayres reported from Iasi, Romania, and Times staff writer King from Washington.

sabra.ayres@latimes.com

Twitter: @sabraayres

laura.king@latimes.com

Twitter: @laurakingLAT
President Trump and his supporters say he is winning his trade war with Beijing. Just look at the Chinese economy. The nation is dealing with a mountain of debt, and its growth and investment are slowing down. But are Trumps trade policies responsible for Chinas mounting problems? And if Trump keeps on pushing, can he win? And if so, at what cost?

What is Trumps real objective?

No one is quite sure how far Trump plans to go in pressuring China with hefty trade tariffs. One analysis late last month by the Australia-based ANZ Bank predicted the warfare will last until 2020 because the two sides are so far apart. Washington accuses China of stealing American intellectual property and demands it open its economy up more to foreign competition. China contends that it is playing by World Trade Organization rules.

Some analysts think the real U.S. objective is a gradual decoupling of the worlds two biggest economies, hitherto deeply entwined and interdependent. The U.S. government has blocked investments by several prominent Chinese companies  particularly in the telecommunications and high-tech fields  as threats to American security, and Chinese investment in the U.S. economy has plummeted. Meanwhile, some U.S. companies are planning to move operations out of China if the trade war drags on.

Advertisement

There is no doubt that U.S.-China relations have flipped, from some kind of hedged, competitive engagement, to all-out competition on numerous fronts, said analyst Richard McGregor of the Sydney-based Lowy Institute, who is currently in Washington. Its not just about trade. Its geopolitical, military, diplomatic and economic, which is why theres no real endpoint in sight. In many respects, its also an end-of-history-type competition between rival political systems.

He said the idea of the economies decoupling had taken hold in Beijing too.

Both sides want to untangle parts of their economic relationship on national security grounds, to ensure that they dont rely on each other in any pivotal areas. Business and trade used to provide some ballast to the geopolitical competition. Now, business is just another battleground.

One interpretation popular in China is that the economic conflict is all about containing its rise as a high-tech global leader. The longer the warfare continues, the more uncertain its outcome, as both sides ratchet up pressure in ways designed to antagonize.

Is Trumps trade war putting the Chinese economy under so much pressure that it is slowing down?

Chinas economy is slowing and may slow down further, analysts warn. But it has nothing to do, they say, with Trump or the trade war. Instead, it is related to Chinese government policies since 2016 to bring the countrys mountain of debt under control.

For years, Chinese growth was fueled by credit, some of it issued by murky institutions known as shadow banks because they operated outside the formal banking sector, making it difficult for the government to control. Between 2008 and 2017, Chinas credit grew faster than that of any other economy in history: by $29 trillion, compared with gross domestic product growth of $7 trillion.

It seemed the normal rules of boom and bust did not apply. By mid-2017, Chinas debt reached 256% of GDP. Some economists believe that Chinas powerful levers over its economy, its vast assets and high savings levels mean that it is shock-proof in a way that other countries are not. But others say those days are coming to an end.

Chinese GDP growth eased from 6.8% in the first quarter to 6.7% in the second, and it is expected to slow further in coming months. Spending on infrastructure was 6% in the first half, compared with 8.6% the previous year.

China is no longer insulated from a slowdown in its economic growth by virtue of its extraordinary savings rate. Similarly it is not U.S. trade pressure that is bringing about this reckoning in its economic outlook. Thats very important because it means that China must change its course regardless of whether what we do here in Washington is naughty or nice, said China economic analyst Daniel Rosen, launching a report he co-wrote, Credit and Credibility: Risks to Chinas Economic Resilience, at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on Wednesday.

China has been moving to reduce bad loans by banks and off-budget loans by local governments, leading to an economic slowdown as credit tightens. Those moves are complicated by the trade war, which further threatens growth and puts the Chinese economy under additional pressure.

Is Chinas economy in danger of a major shock because of the debt mountain?

Economists have been arguing about this for years without consensus. But China has recognized the problem and begun to restructure its economy. Report co-author Logan Wright argues that China cannot grow its way out of the problem. A slowdown is inevitable  and the risk of some kind of financial shock is real.

China was truly exceptional in the nature of its growth and its significance for the world economy until recently, Rosen said at the launch, and it has now become normal. He said China could no longer avoid concerns about whether it was different to every other country and whether a country can grow to the sky. Things are going to be a lot more normal and standard in the outlook [for China] from here on out, Rosen said.

Some believe that the Trump administration is pushing China hard right now because of its economic vulnerability, seeing an opportunity to back it into a corner and slow Chinas rise.

JP Morgan chief China economist Zhu Haibin predicted last month that the trade war would cost China 700,000 jobs as companies move factories out, independent online financial news site Caixin reported. Chinese officials have promised to cushion the impact through tax cuts and other measures, even while grappling with the debt problem.

Do Chinas economic problems mean that Trump can win the trade war? And what are the dangers of pressing on?

Trump seems so confident of victory in the trade war that there is little likelihood he will ease back on pressure. He told reporters Monday that China badly wanted new trade talks, but that frankly its too early to talk  because theyre not ready.

But the problem with trade wars that drag on is that they have a way of souring entire relationships. Good trade relations can mitigate military friction. But this weeks near collision between the U.S. destroyer Decatur and a Chinese warship in the South China Sea showed the potential for a serious military clash. The vessels came within 50 yards of each other. The United States accused the Chinese ship of unsafe and unprofessional conduct, and China warned the U.S. to cease provocative action.

The Decatur was conducting a freedom of navigation operation, or FONOP, angering China, which claims most of the South China Sea and has built military installations on disputed islands there. Additional FONOPs are planned in the near future, likely to trigger more tension.

There are other frictions: American sanctions on a Chinese military agency and U.S. sales of military equipment to Taiwan have angered China. Trump has also accused China of interfering in the U.S. midterm election. And after the recent arrest of a Chinese student suspected of spying, the Trump administration announced moves to limit visas to Chinese students in high-tech fields.

Vice President Mike Pence delivered a broad-ranging attack on China on Thursday, just days before Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo is due for talks in China. The relationship has deteriorated so much, so fast in recent weeks that it is beginning to feel as if something has broken.

Both China and the U.S.  and their leaders  currently seem committed to economic and security policies that will increase the tension between them, heighten the cost and scale of their de facto arms race, and at least marginally increase the risk of incidents, clashes, or more serious conflict, military analyst Anthony Cordesman, former director of intelligence assessment in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, wrote in an analysis for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He compared the U.S.-China competition to the arms race pursued by Britain and Germany in the lead-up to World War I, setting the stage for last centurys two most devastating wars.

Each is pursuing policies that are broadening the range of technologies and forces it can use against the other. Each is adjusting its strategic posture to put more emphasis on containment and conflict. Each is effectively attempting to win the future at the others expense, he wrote.

As relations worsen, he continued, it is becoming steadily harder to distinguish between efforts designed to limit or contain the other state and those that might lead to actual conflict.

robyn.dixon@latimes.com

Twitter: @RobynDixon_LAT
For two years the nun said nothing, quietly dreading the nights that the stocky, bearded Catholic bishop would spend at her small convent in the southern Indian hills.

Early last year she confided in another member of her congregation: The bishop is compelling me to lay with him.

Soon afterward, the nun reported to church leaders that the cleric, Franco Mulakkal, had raped her 13 times from 2014 to 2016. When the leaders failed to act and the bishop filed police reports in an apparent bid to silence her, she went to authorities in June.

The investigation might have stalled  as so many sexual assault cases tend to do in India, particularly when they involve the church  were it not for the accusers fellow nuns, who led an unprecedented public protest that has sharply divided the countrys 20 million Catholics.

Advertisement

After a two-week sit-in that drew thousands of supporters, police in the southern state of Kerala arrested the 54-year-old bishop last month, making him the first high-ranking Indian clergyman to face charges of sexual misconduct. On Wednesday, a court denied the bishop bail, ruling that the evidence against him was credible.

Its a watershed in the history of the Indian church, said Jose Kavi, editor of Matters India, a website that covers religious issues.

Some have gone so far as to label it Indias #MeToo moment, a long-overdue reckoning with sexual abuse by powerful men in the workplace  and all the more significant because it emanated from the cloistered church in Kerala, a socially conservative state and home to one of the countrys largest Christian communities.

But the six nuns of the Missionaries of Jesus order said they knew nothing of the social currents and hashtags roiling the United States when they stood up to challenge Mulakkal, the head of their diocese, controller of its purse strings and a man they were ordained to regard as a father.

When we knocked at the door of the church for help, it didnt open for us, said Sister Anupama, a bespectacled 30-year-old nun who led the daily protests outside a courthouse in the coastal city of Kochi, holding placards and occasionally shedding tears.

We didnt do this only for our sister but for all women, she said. No one should have to sit in the street to demand justice. We had no choice.

Bishop Franco Mulakkal, center, is escorted by police after being questioned on rape allegations in Kochi, India, on Sept. 19. He was arrested two days later. (Prakash Elamakkara / Associated Press)

Mulakkal is one of more than 80 Catholic bishops worldwide who have been publicly accused of sexual wrongdoing since the 1990s, and the first in an Asian country outside the Philippines. He has denied the allegations, and the Indian church and its political allies have quickly closed ranks behind him.

The nuns own order called the bishop an innocent soul and said she was part of an anti-church conspiracy. It asserted without evidence that shed had affairs with other men and released a 2015 photograph of her and the bishop at a church event, in apparent violation of Indian laws prohibiting the disclosure of a rape survivors identity. The Times is not identifying her because of an editorial policy not to disclose the names of rape survivors.

Other congregations ordered their members not to join the protest; one nun who did said she was banned from conducting prayers as punishment.

The Kerala Catholic Bishops Council blamed some vested interests and sections of the media for making a laughingstock of the church and the bishop. His diocese, based in the northern city of Jalandhar, is wealthy and influential, operating hundreds of schools and mission homes across India, including three convents in Kerala.

In this southern state, which is nearly 11% Catholic, the nuns demonstrations are seen by many faithful as tantamount to treason.

They are challenging the church, and we believers wont allow our bishops and priests to bow their heads in front of these people, said Kennedy Karimbinkalayil, founder of a group of lay Catholics that defends the church hierarchy.

We cant swallow what this nun says, he went on. People say the bishop is powerful, yet he would come down here just to see a single woman? Just to rape her he will fly to Kerala? We cant believe that.

Amid the storm, the accuser, a Kerala-born woman in her 40s, remained inside the convent, a two-story beige house with pink trim on the outskirts of the town of Kuravilangad. She has declined interviews and avoided photographers, emerging only in the evenings for short walks amid the coconut palms and flowering bushes.

Her story has emerged mainly through letters she wrote to church officials, copies of which her supporters released to the news media.

I had tremendous fear and shame to bring this out into the open, she wrote Sept. 8 to the papal representative in New Delhi. I feared suppression of the congregation and threats to my family members.

At the same time I wonder why the church is closing its eyes towards the truth when I have mustered courage to stop him.

Four nuns from the Missionaries of Jesus lead a protest outside the High Court in Kochi, India, in September. Sister Anupama is at left, wearing glasses. (AFP/Getty Images)

She also wrote that in June 2017, she first disclosed to a parish priest and a bishop in Kerala that Mulakkal had abused her. The complaint made its way to Cardinal Mar George Alencherry, the head of the Syro-Malabar church, one of three Catholic rites in India.

Because Mulakkal and the Missionaries of Jesus are based in the northern city of Jalandhar, whose diocese falls under the Latin rite, Alencherry told the nun he didnt have jurisdiction to respond to her complaint, his office said. Subsequent complaints to church officials in northern India and the Vatican failed to produce an inquiry into Mulakkals actions, she said.

The Indian churchs response has mirrored that of other Catholic congregations when confronted with allegations of sexual abuse by clergy. As a scandal widens in Chile  where seven bishops have resigned recently over alleged cover-ups of sexual abuse  Pope Francis called a summit of bishops in February to discuss ways to stop predatory clerics.

Since 2016, three Catholic priests in Kerala have been charged in rape cases, two involving victims who were minors.

Indian Catholic reformists say the churchs tendency to conceal sexual misconduct is compounded by socially conservative notions of power and patriarchy. In Kerala, although nuns are a common sight in the churchs vast network of schools, hospitals and charities, they occupy the lowest rung of the social ladder.

I have been pushing for womens empowerment in the church for 30 years, and this is the first time a nun has come out publicly about abuse, said Virginia Saldanha, a former executive secretary of the womens commission of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India.

There have been lots of abused sisters, but most of them have been silent about it. This case shows the path taken when such a case is put before the church: denial, blaming the victim, saying its an attack on the church. They never, ever accept that the cleric is at fault.

Catholics still talk in hushed tones about Sister Abhaya, a teenage nun whose bruised body was found in a well at a Kerala convent in 1992. Her death was initially ruled a suicide, but years later investigators reopened the case, alleging she had been killed after discovering a fellow nun and two priests in a compromising position.

By then, evidence had been destroyed, allegedly with the help of police. The case remains unsolved, and many say it has contributed to the silence surrounding sex abuse and the impunity enjoyed by offenders.

If the Sister Abhaya case had been punished properly, this case would never have occurred, said Father Augustine Vattoli, a reformist priest who formed the Save Our Sisters movement to support the protesting nuns.

The nuns suspect Mulakkal also made advances toward others in the congregation, citing 20 sisters who left the order since 2013, when he took over as bishop.

His accuser wrote of another time that a junior nun was alone in his room late one night to receive spiritual direction. But she withheld details of the incident from church leaders because anyone daring to resist [Mulakkal] has to face strong consequences.

After his accuser complained to church authorities, Mulakkal filed a police report against her and Anupama, saying they had threatened to kill themselves. He has said his accuser is retaliating against him for initiating an investigation into an affair she allegedly had with a married man, an allegation she denies. Police say they have not found evidence for the bishops claims.

When Kerala officers questioned Mulakkal, they found other false statements. He initially denied having visited the Kuravilangad convent, only to be betrayed by a visitor log containing his name.

When a priest close to Mulakkal offered the nuns 10 acres of land in another diocese if they withdrew their complaint, Anupama recorded the phone call and passed it to police.

Still, it wasnt until the nuns sit-in that the investigation gathered momentum. Police interrogated Mulakkal for three consecutive days in September before ordering his arrest.

Anupama, who was stripped of her leadership position at another convent, said she expects further attacks when the case goes to trial. Mulakkals supporters have pledged to turn out in large numbers to give an answer to these bloody nuns, Karimbinkalayil said.

Anupama, her soft voice barely audible over the whir of a ceiling fan, said the nuns remained undaunted.

Let it come, Anupama said. We dont know what will happen with our lives. But we trust in God that he will give us a solution.

shashank.bengali@latimes.com

Shashank Bengali is South Asia correspondent for The Times. Follow him on Twitter at @SBengali
Oslo : Congolese doctor Denis Mukwege and Yazidi campaigner Nadia Murad won the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their work in fighting sexual violence in conflicts around the world.



The pair won the award for their "efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war," Nobel committee chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen said in unveiling the winners in Oslo. "A more peaceful world can only be achieved if women and their fundamental rights and security are recognised and protected in war," she said.

Both Mukwege and Murad have come to represent the struggle against a global scourge which goes well beyond any single conflict, as the ever-expanding #MeToo movement has shown. Mukwege, 63, was recognised for two decades of work to help women recover from the violence and trauma of sexual abuse and rape in war-torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

Women, children and even babies just a few months old, Mukwege has treated tens of thousands of victims of rape at Panzi hospital which he founded in 1999 in South Kivu. Known as "Doctor Miracle", he is an outspoken critic of the abuse of women during war who has described rape as "a weapon of mass destruction." Alongside Mukwege, the committee honoured Murad, a 25-year-old Iraqi woman from the Yazidi community who in 2014 was kidnapped by Islamic State militants and endured three months as a sex slave before managing to escape. PTI
The House of Representatives on Wednesday night approved the general appropriations bill that provides a national budget of P3.757 trillion for 2019. The House led by Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo approved the budget by voice vote after 11 days of plenary deliberations. The House is expected to approve the bill on third and final reading before Congress adjourns next week. Arroyo has been closely following the progress of the bill to ensure the House remains on track with its schedule to pass it on final reading before the Oct. 12 congressional recess. On Monday night, she and other House members stayed until the interpellations on the Defense departments budget were terminated at 6 am of Tuesday. In last nights period of individual amendments, House Majority Floor Leader and Camarines Sur Rep. Rolando Andaya Jr. said pursuant to parliamentary precedence, he proposed the creation of a small committee to receive and resolve amendments to HB 8169. Andaya named the following as members to the small committee: For the majority: Committee on appropriations senior vice chairperson Maria Carmen Zamora, Representatives Federico Sandoval II and Corazon Nunez-Malanyaon; for the Committee on Rules: Majority Leader Rolando Andaya Jr.; and for the minority: Minority Leader Danilo Suarez, Representatives Anthony Bravo and Edcel Lagman. The deadline for the submission of amendments is set on Oct. 9, 2018, as Congress will adjourn on Oct. 12. During the lump sum fund interpellation, Rep. Makmod Mending Jr. of AMIN party-list expressed concern that the release of the P3.5-billion fund for the rehabilitation of Marawi City, which is good for only a year, might be bogged down by bureaucratic delay. He said the establishment of Task Force Bangon Marawi added a layer to the budget release process for the citys rehabilitation. Previously, the budget only had to pass through the Office of Civil Defense and the Office of the President. But House appropriations committee senior vice chairman and Albay Rep. Joey Salceda assured Mending that they would seek to extend the validity period of the Marawi rehabilitation fund. For the fiscal year 2019, the education sector will get the lions share of the national budget. The total proposed funding for Department of Education, state universities and colleges, Commission on Higher Education and Technical Education and Skills Development Authority of P659.3 billion marks a 12.3 percent or P72.2-billion growth over their 2018 budget of P587.1 billion.Of the proposed appropriations of P659.3 billion for education, P528.8 billion will be allocated to DepEd; P65.2 billion will go to SUCs; P50.5 billion to CHED; and P14.8 billion to TESDA. The Department of Public Works and Highways will receive the second highest allocation of P555.7 billion, which represents an increase of 25.8 percent or P113.9 billion compared to its P441.8-billion budget in 2018. The Department of the Interior and Local Government will receive the third largest appropriation in 2019 with P225.6 billion. This is 30.9 percent or P53.2 billion higher than its 2018 funding of P172.4 billion. The other top recipients are the Department of National Defense, P183.4 billion; Department of Social Welfare and Development, P173.3 billion; Department of Health, P141.2 billion, which includes P67.4 billion for the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.; Department of Transportation, P141.4 billion; Department of Agriculture, P76.1 billion; the Judiciary with P37.3 billion; and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, P32.3 billion. The infrastructure program for 2019, which shall receive an appropriation of P909.7 billion, will fuel the administrations massive Build Build Build Program. In his budget message to Congress, President Rodrigo Duterte said the country is now moving towards half-time in the period that has been given to him and his administration, to enable the Filipino people to experience the life that they aspire for, the life that they deserve. We are almost midway to the path that our people have chosen to traverse with us, one that will take them from mere hopes and dreams of the past to the reality of a better and more comfortable life, in a peaceful and more progressive nation today. We are finally poised on the bridge that will lead us to the bright future that we can actually already glimpse, said the President. Among the key budget priorities the President identified for 2019 are : 1) Intensifying infrastructure development through infrastructure projects in and outside Metro Manila and in local government units, and through information technology infrastructure; 2) expanding programs on human development; 3) enhancing social services through expanded educational opportunities, universal health for all, and social protection; 4) continuing provisions for the peoples basic needs by ensuring food security and securing meaningful employment; 5) rehabilitating Marawi and moving forward; 6) building a more secure nation through hiring of more police officers and enhancing the capability of the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and ensuring efficient administration of justice. READ: Budget approval before House break doubted
The Brazilian general elections begin on 7 October. Far-right presidential candidate, Jair Messias Bolsonaro of the PSL, is leading in the polls, which has provoked a huge reaction from the left in Brazil, with some (including the PT) calling him a fascist, or fearing he will attempt to restore the military dictatorship. Lucy Dias of Marxist Left explains what Bolsonaro stands for, and how to fight him.

The position of the Marxists is not to combat Bolsonaro on the basis of bourgeois morality. Our morality reflects the interests of the working class as a whole, and our politics and activity express the most resolute form of this struggle. That must be our starting point.

By contrast, look at the kind of arguments raised by left-wing politicians in Brazil, like Guilherme Castro Boulos, of the National Coordination of Homeless Workers' Movement:

Bolsonaro received a housing allowance while he already had a home. He had two projects approved, but bought five properties  so he bought more properties than projects. Are you not ashamed, Bolsonaro?

This kind of question does not help the workers understand the central problem, which is not that this candidate is corrupt and uses politics for personal enrichment  although this is true. The central problem is the capitalist system itself, which is corrupt by its very nature. The capitalists representatives in parliament want to maintain the bourgeois state  partly for their own, immediate interests  but mainly to break the resistance of the workers, using the whole state apparatus to keep them as exploited and oppressed as possible. That is exactly why Bolsonaro is not going to change everything: the system is already rotten.

If we want to combat Bolsonaro from the point of view of proletarian morality, we must bear in mind that this morality presupposes a defence of the interests of humanity itself, which is entirely linked to the fight for world revolution and the liberation of the working class. When Bolsonaro issues statements in support of torturers and rapists; and recommends combatting violence with more violence  as he openly proposed as a solution to violent crime in Rio  he represents bourgeois morality, which strives to sink a generation of workers and youth into barbarism in order to maintain bourgeois interests. And that is exactly what we oppose. The working class and youth deserve a future in which daily violence is no longer a common part of life.

Attacks on workers and youth

In interviews, Bolsonaro, and his lead economist, Paulo Guedes, are clear in representing the bosses interests.

Bolsonaro states that wages are little for those who receive them and a lot for those who pay them. He appoints himself as the bosses' spokesman, saying that at some point, the workers will have to choose between rights or employment.

Bolsonaro has appointed himself as the bosses' spokesman, saying that at some point, the workers will have to choose between rights or employment / Image: Flickr, jesocarneiro

Putting a knife against the workers' neck, what he is saying is: choose between unemployment or precarious work. His antagonistic stance towards workers is clear in that he has already voted for approval of the Labour Reform and Constitutional Amendment 95, the spending ceiling and reducing the supply of public services  even for those who think he will represent their interests, as in the case of military personnel. Or do the children of the military and their families not use public services?

When it came to voting on the draft bill on outsourcing, Bolsonaro cynically abstained, but when the bill for the regulation of domestic labour came up, he voted against, denying the rights of millions of Brazilian workers who provide these services.

Guedes, in an interview with Globo News, said openly that a Social Security Reform like the one carried out in 1981 in Chile, under the dictatorship of Pinochet, is necessary. It is worth explaining to young people and workers that this reform privatised welfare, putting workers money in a fund that was managed by capitalists, who invested it in the financial market. The result for the first generation that retired under this model was a brutal reduction in living standards and purchasing power. According to data published by the BBC, 90.9 percent of retirees receive less than the equivalent of 149,435 pesos, something around $USD 179.09, while the minimum wage in Chile is 264 thousand pesos, equivalent to $USD 316.38.

Bolsonaro and his economist crony also have a privatisation programme that covers everything from state-owned companies to education: providing the possibility of the student choosing whether to study in a public or private school. But we should explain to the youth that the expansion of private higher education in Brazil was due to lack of investment in public universities. This made the provision of free education to everyone (at all levels) impossible, and forced working-class children to pay tuition fees in order to study at private universities.

Moreover, Bolsonaro intends to continue the Brazilian state's disregard for education and research, as we can see in his statement about the National Museum fire ("it is already done, already burned down, what can be done?")

Regressing to the 19th Century

Guedes defends what he calls a liberal-democratic agenda for Brazil, which involves, in very simple terms, handing over state-owned companies as a quick way of obtaining hard currency for the payment of public debt; increasing the direct exploitation of the labour force; reducing labour and social security rights and limiting the scope of collective bargaining agreements. The proposal of the Green-Yellow Portfolio will see bosses "negotiating directly" with the workers  not via their elected leadership or mass organisations through collective bargaining. What he intends is to bring us back to the conditions described by Engels in 1845:

"In many regions, notably in the north of England, it is customary to hire workers for a year. They undertake not to work for anyone else during this period, but the employer does not undertake to give them work; they often go out of work for months, and if they look for work elsewhere they will be sent to prison for six weeks for leaving their post."

Bolsonaro wants to be elected to attack the whole working class and the youth. And so, we oppose him, explaining that our struggle is for the interests of the working class as a whole.

Bolsonaro wants to be elected to attack the whole working class and the youth. And so, we oppose him, explaining that our struggle is for the interests of the working class as a whole / Image: Marxist Left

The group "Women Against Bolsonaro" has dragged several other movements and tendencies into street mobilisations, which is undoubtedly an expression of resistance and a willingness to fight. However, we must explain that the fight is not just against Bolsonaro but all the other bourgeois candidates. The emancipation of the workers will be achieved on the basis of their own forces, and for this we must organise ourselves to combat capitalism.

What about the education of our children?

Bolsonaro said, when asked by journalists, that all education at all levels could be done remotely. He is in favour of the project: "School Without a Party", which consists of the following:

scrapping basic education in the classroom, which provides social interaction that is extremely important for the child's development in society; a total attack on the very existence of teaching as a profession; the deepening of attacks on public, secular education for all.

When Bolsonaro uses anti-Marxist phraseology to support his plans, he is also signalling to the sharks in the private education sector that he supports their efforts to reduce costs, and will open up another private market for them to exploit.

Is Bolsonaro a fascist?

Since 2013, the thesis of the so-called "conservative wave" has been developed by the PT and others that proclaim themselves socialists in Brazil. This thesis, on the one hand, in a cowardly fashion blames the workers for the election of the "most reactionary congress in history".

They regard Dilma's impeachment and Bolsonaro's position in the polls as evidence of the rise of fascism. They also seek to exert pressure on leftist organisations to rally to the defence of the class collaborationist policies of the PT and Lula. We were against the impeachment of Dilma and the imprisonment of Lula without evidence, but we do not surrender to these ideas.

To call Bolsonaro a fascist is incorrect at the present stage: his election will not lead to a militarised organisation aimed at morally and physically destroying the working class. He has no organised base incited to that end.

Embed from Getty Images

If the bourgeoisie have misgivings with regards Bolsonaro, the greatest of them is precisely their memory of the fate that befell Fernando Collor de Mello, who was elected President in the 1990s to the horror of traditional, bourgeois politicians.

More than the "incompetence" or "incoherence" of Bolsonaro, what most worries the ruling class is the memory of the "Down with Collor" campaign, a mass movement with millions on the streets. That is why the bourgeoisie is afraid of supporting him, and why important sectors of the ruling class are campaigning for the PT.

In order to combat Bolsonaro, we must call him what he is: an enemy of the workers, a defender of torture and of the inequalities created and deepened by capitalism. A right-wing demagogue uses the anti-establishment sentiments of the people to reinforce illusions in the system itself. Calling him sexist, racist and homophobic (which he is) solves nothing (most bourgeois candidates are all of these things as well). When Bolsonaro was stabbed during a campaign event, this only allowed him to play the victim card and pushed him away from public debates, preventing his anti-worker statements from being more widespread.

To combat him, we have to be organised before and after the elections, presenting propaganda against capitalism and for socialism. We must actively work for the construction of revolutionary leadership, that will guide the workers and youth towards freedom, and consign creatures like Bolsonaro to the dustbin of history.
Asia Caluoris four years at the University of Montana were busy ones. A management information systems major, she served as a peer adviser, Mansfield Center intern and member of the MIS Association.

She was one of thousands of College of Business students who made use of the Gianchetta Student Success Center  a central office that provides advising, career development, graduate programs, internships and scholarship services for students.

As a senior, Caluori was encouraged by her business college mentors to compete for the Deborah McWhinney Emerging Leaders Fellowship Award. She received one of two competitive awards offered that year. The award ensured Caluori could relocate to San Francisco for a summer internship at KPMG, a financial services firm.

http://news.umt.edu/2018/10/100518foun.php
Les membres du Cabinet ont pris note que le Offshore Petroleum Bill sera presente au Parlement, de la signature dun Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement avec lAllemagne, de donner le nom de Port Louis Cruise Terminal au nouveau quai pour les bateaux de croisieres, 451 cas actifs de la Covid-19 dans le pays au 15 octobre 2021 entre autres.

1. Cabinet has agreed to the introduction of the Offshore Petroleum Bill into the National Assembly. The object of the Bill is to repeal the Petroleum Act, a legislation which dates back to the year 1970, and replace it with a new and more appropriate regulatory regime for the conduct of petroleum activities in the seabed and subsoil areas of the maritime zones of Mauritius, such as the prospecting, exploration, retention and production of petroleum. The Department for Continental Shelf, Maritime Zones Administration and Exploration of the Prime Ministers Office shall, amongst its other functions, be the regulatory body for petroleum activities in the maritime zones of Mauritius and shall, inter alia,:

(a) regulate, monitor and oversee petroleum activities;

(b) be responsible for the issue of prospecting permits, exploration licences, retention licences and production licences;

(c) negotiate, on behalf of the Government, prospecting agreements and petroleum agreements;

(d) facilitate the conduct of petroleum activities;

(e) develop strategies and policies to minimise and manage the impacts of petroleum activities in the marine environment;

(f) advise the Minister in the formulation, planning and management of policies in relation to petroleum activities; and

(g) do such other things as may be necessary for the conduct of petroleum activities.

In addition, all sovereign rights to petroleum contained in the seabed and subsoil areas of the maritime zones shall vest, and shall always be deemed to have been vested, in the State of Mauritius.

2. Cabinet has agreed to Mauritius signing a Protocol with the Federal Republic of Germany to amend the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between the two countries. The objective of the current Protocol is to amend the DTAA so that it complies with the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project recommendations. The Protocol, would incorporate in the Agreement, the following new provisions:

(a) a statement in the Preamble to emphasise that the intention of both countries is to eliminate double taxation, without creating opportunities for non-taxation or reduced taxation through tax evasion or avoidance;

(b) the possibility for a taxpayer to have recourse to arbitration where a tax dispute cannot be resolved by the competent authorities within a period of three years after the case has been referred for consideration; and

(c) to clarify the cases which are not eligible for arbitration.

3. Cabinet has agreed to the adoption of an injury protocol for reporting, handling and administration of injury and illness at the workplace in Ministries and Departments. The protocol would greatly help public organisations to put in place an effective reporting and recording mechanism. The benefits accruing from the adoption of the protocol include, amongst others, the following:

(a) improvement of compliance with the Occupational Safety and Health Act;

(b) paving the way for the implementation of the Occupational Safety and Health Management System in accordance with the norms of ISO 45001;

(c) avoiding complex litigations; and

(d) enhancement of the image of Government as a caring employer.

4. Cabinet has agreed to the signing of a Joint Declaration for extension of the existing Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of a Chair in Ayurveda, between the University of Mauritius and the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences under the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of the Republic of India, for a period of three years. The Memorandum of Understanding provides, inter alia, for a Chair in Ayurveda to be set up at the University of Mauritius to:

(a) undertake academic and research activities in Ayurveda, in accordance with the requirements of the University of Mauritius;

(b) act as credible source of AYUSH related information for the Republic of Mauritius; and

(c) advocate the safe use of Ayurveda in the Republic of Mauritius.

5. Cabinet has agreed to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on a framework for collaboration and mutual cooperation between the Construction Industry Development Board and the University of Mauritius. The following areas would be covered:

(a) collaboration in research, teaching and learning in fields of common interest;

(b) collaboration in the exchange of educational resource materials and publications that are of mutual interest;

(c) identification of special short-term academic programmes and projects of mutual benefit to both institutions;

(d) development and running of short courses aimed at capacity building of SME contractors operating in the construction industry;

(e) development and running of short courses for consultants operating in the construction sector;

(f) organisation of Continuing Professional Development programmes, including training sessions and workshops, to cater for the needs of local contractors; and

(g) research work on topics that are relevant to the needs of the construction industry.

6. Cabinet has taken note that the Ministry of Blue Economy, Marine Resources, Fisheries and Shipping would sign an amended Small Scale Funding Agreement with the United Nations Environment Programme in relation to the implementation of the project Assessment of Blue Carbon Ecosystem (Seagrass) around the island of Mauritius: Relevance for Marine Spatial Planning. The main objectives of the project would be:

(a) the production of a map depicting the distribution and diversity of seagrass species in the lagoons of Mauritius;

(b) the establishment of long-term monitoring stations; and

(c) the collection of data on seagrass and the carbon storage capacity of the different species of seagrass around Mauritius.

7. Cabinet has taken note of the inauguration of the Ground Station of the first Mauritian Satellite on 07 October 2021 and of action being taken by the Ministry of Information Technology, Communication and Innovation to pursue Governments agenda in the field of Space Research and Technology. With a view to controlling and commanding the Mauritian Nano Satellite, a Ground Station together with related antennas, has been set up at the Ebene Heights Building, on the premises of the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council. The satellite is able to take pictures of Mauritius and its surroundings when it passes over the region. The Ground Station is also able to capture data from other low orbiting satellites and is helping to build capacity in satellite/space technology.

The official inauguration of the Ground Station was performed by the Prime Minister, in the presence of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan, the High Commissioner of the Republic of India and other officials on 07 October 2021.

8. Cabinet has agreed to the proposal of the Mauritius Ports Authority to name the new cruise terminal facility in the port area at Les Salines as the Port Louis Cruise Terminal. The Mauritius Ports Authority is undertaking the construction of a cruise terminal building at Les Salines which comprises the terminal building and the associated area for passenger cars, taxis and shuttle buses. The project is scheduled to be completed by the first quarter of 2022. The cruise terminal would be fully operational by mid-next year in time to cater for the 2022/2023 cruise season.

9. Cabinet has taken note that the 32nd National Crisis Committee on Wakashio was held recently. The purpose of the Committee was to look into the restarting of the removal of the aft part of the Wakashio wreck, which could not be carried out since March 2021 due to bad sea state and weather conditions. The National Crisis Committee was apprised that Lianyungang Dali Underwater Engineering Co Ltd and Hong Kong Lidada Ocean Engineering Co Ltd, which had been appointed by Japan P&I Club and the owner, had mobilised the logistics and were ready to restart the operations. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Centre would be on site at Blue Bay Command Centre for coordination purposes as from the start of the wreck removal operations.

10. Cabinet has taken note of the activities being organised by the Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security in the context of the World Food Day, celebrated on 16 October every year to mark the foundation of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). The theme for this year is Our Actions are Our Future. Better Production, Better Nutrition, a Better Environment and a Better Life. At national level, the theme chosen is Manz Seki Nou Prodwir, Prodwir Seki Nou Manze.

The Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security would organise an Agricultural Exhibition and a Culinary Competition on 16 October 2021 at the Plaine des Papayes Multipurpose Complex. The agricultural exhibition/fair would involve the participation of the Agricultural and the Forestry Services, the Food and Agricultural Research and Extension Institute, the Agricultural Marketing Board and other parastatal bodies. They would have the opportunity to showcase their activities and the numerous services they offer. Fruit trees, decorative and endemic plants, vegetables, day old chicks and agro-processed foods would be sold at promotional prices to the public. Fruit Fly baits would also be distributed freely to visitors. The objective of the Culinary Competition is to promote local products and dishes.



11. Cabinet has taken note that 1,111 applications for Premium Visa have been received as at 30 September 2021 and 750 applications which fulfilled the required criteria, have been approved.

12. Cabinet has taken note of the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic prevailing across the world. Some 240 million cases have been reported globally, of which 217.3 million persons have been successfully treated.

With regard to Mauritius, as at 14 October 2021, there were 451 active cases of COVID-19, out of which 31 were admitted at New ENT Hospital including five on ventilators. Over the period 07 October to 13 October 2021, 20 deaths were attributed to COVID-19.

Cabinet has also taken note that there were two active cases in Rodrigues. Both were returning Rodriguans who were in quarantine.

Cabinet has further taken note of progress in the COVID-19 Vaccination Programme. As at 13 October 2021, 884,765 persons had received a first dose of vaccine (representing 69.9 percent of the population). 831,918 persons had been fully vaccinated (representing 65.7 percent of the population). 10,968 persons had received a booster dose. 20,124 adolescents aged between 15 to 17 years had received a first dose of vaccine.

Cabinet has taken note that the Minister of Health and Wellness has made the following Regulations/Notices 

(a) Consolidated COVID-19 (Amendment) Regulations 2021;

(b) Notice under Regulation 4(2)(d) of the Consolidated COVID-19 Regulations 2021; and

(c) Notice under Regulation 14(a) of the Consolidated COVID-19 Regulations 2021.

13. Cabinet has taken note of the activities being organised by the Ministry of Arts and Cultural Heritage in collaboration with the Nelson Mandela Centre for African Culture on 27 October 2021 at La Tour Koenig, Pointe Aux Sables to mark the 35th Anniversary of the Centre. The 35th Anniversary coincides with the celebration of La Journee Internationale Creole, and the following activities would be organised:

(a) projection of a video clip on the history of the Centre from its official inauguration on 27 October 1986 to date;

(b) projection of a video clip on La Tour Koenig and its conversion by the Centre into an Art Space;

(c) unveiling of an inaugural plaque by the Prime Minister and launching of the Lespas Lar at La Tour Koenig;

(d) opening of an exhibition on the creation of the Centre with emphasis on the inauguration of the Centre by Late Sir Anerood Jugnauth; and

(e) a Sound and Light Show with mapping on La Tour Koenig.

14. Cabinet has taken note of the activities being organised by the Ministry of Arts and Cultural Heritage, in collaboration with ISM (Mauritius) Ltd on 20 October 2021 at the

Ex-Military Hospital, Port Louis following the completion of Phase 1 of the Intercontinental Slavery Museum Project. The following activities would be organised at the ex- Military Hospital, Port Louis:

(a) a slam on slavery entitled Rakont mwa gran mama;

(b) a presentation of a documentary on the Ex-Military Hospital, Lopital Militer, Enn Fitir Sit de Konsians;

(c) the launching of the publication on the outcome of the public consultation exercise; and

(d) a guided visit of the rehabilitated Wing A of the Ex- Military Hospital and exhibition on the outcome of the Public Consultation exercise entitled Ki mize lesklavaz pou enn lil Moris modern.

15. Cabinet has taken note that the Ministry of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change would hold a two-day Consultative Workshop on Plastic-Free Mauritius: Defining the Roadmap with assistance from the United Nations Development Programme Country Office, on 18 and 19 October 2021. The aim of the Workshop is to provide a forum for national dialogue among key stakeholders to forge the way towards the elaboration of the roadmap. The platform would serve to raise awareness on the measures, policies, and institutional and legal framework to tackle plastic pollution; identify existing gaps and opportunities; and take on board the suggestions of key stakeholders towards the development of the roadmap.

As a side-event to the Workshop, an expo-vente was also being planned to sensitise members of the public on plastic products that have been banned under the Environment Protection (Control of Single Use Plastic Products) Regulations 2020 and the Environment Protection (Banning of Plastic Bags) Regulations 2020.

16. Cabinet has taken note of the status of road capital projects being implemented across the island by the Road Development Authority as at 30 September 2021, for which an amount of Rs3.9 billion is available in the current financial year.

17. Cabinet has taken note that the Minister of Finance, Economic Plannng and Development participated in the 2021 Edition of the Sovereign Investor Forum, held virtually by Standard Chartered Bank on the sidelines of the 2021 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group. The Sovereign Investor Forum is an annual event whereby sovereign countries representatives update international investors on the latest economic developments and opportunities in their respective countries. More than 500 major investors participated in the conference and they represent the largest and most impactful investors in the world. These investors include sovereign investment funds, development banks, asset managers, commercial banks, insurance companies and corporate treasuries.

The Minister gave an insight on the macro-economic situation as well as the opportunities for investment in Mauritius. He also provided an overview of the strong measures taken to minimise the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

18. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the recent mission of the Minister of Energy and Public Utilities to the United Arab Emirates, in the context of the Expo 2020 Dubai. The Minister participated as Speaker and Panelist at the Session Advancing RE Transition in SIDS: Challenges, Opportunities and COP26. The Session in which the Minister participated was a two-part event, hosted by the Government of UAE, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD), the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and Masdar, and focused on improving access to finance the global energy transition with a spotlight on Small Island Developing States (SIDS). During the first part of the event, the Energy Transition Accelerator Financing Platform was launched. During his intervention, the Minister elaborated on the major achievements in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sector in Mauritius.

The Minister had a joint meeting with the Director-General of the ADFD and the Acting Director General of the Abu Dhabi Export Office and discussed the assistance of ADFD to Mauritius and strengthening of the collaboration to enable implementation of critical projects for the Ministry of Energy and Public Utilities to meet its targets for Renewable Energy. The Minister also met the Director-General of IRENA and the CEO of Masdar. The Masdar City has been intelligently designed to offer the highest quality of life within the lowest environmental footprint.

19. Cabinet has taken note of the outcome of the recent mission of the Minister of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change to Paris, where he attended the economic event Ambition Africa 2021. The event was organised by the French Ministere de lEconomie, des Finances et de la Relance. The Minister of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change was one of the four speakers for the Round Table discussions on the theme Eau et dechets: quels enjeux souleves par la crise sanitaire?. In his intervention, he laid emphasis on the supply/availability of potable water on practically the whole island and the role of Government in the distribution of drinking water. The private sectors contributions in the implementation of water treatment and infrastructural projects were also highlighted.

He also discussed on the concept of the Extended Producer Responsibility to involve the importers and producers of electrical and electronic goods for their sustainable use and disposal. The Minister seized the opportunity to meet Mr Charles Trottman, Director of Trois Oceans, a major department of the Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD) responsible for AFD funded projects in the Small Island Developing States in the Indian, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and discussions focused on climate change, its impact on Mauritius and the challenges of the island to implement climate change adaptation projects funded by the AFD.

20. Cabinet has taken note of the reconstitution of the Board of the National Wage Consultative Council, with Mr Beejaye Coomar Appanna as Chairperson.

Partager et informez vous aussi......

0 shares Share

Tweet

LinkedIn
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.
Education

Montgomery County Community College will present the spring installment of the interview/talk show program Issues and Insights April 20 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Science Center room 214, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The programs will be simulcast to the Colleges West Campus in South Hall room 216, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Dr. Kolsky will offer a humorous presentation, Carrots, Sticks and Politics: A State of the Nation and the World Message. In this speech, he will provide his interpretation of domestic and international politics and then welcome questions from the audience for discussion. Issues and Insights, is free and open to the public. For information, contact Dr. Thomas Kolsky, professor of political science, at 215-641-6380 or tkolsky@mc3.edu.

Montgomery County Community Colleges STEM Scholars Program will host a STEM Jam! open house April 25 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Advanced Technology Center at the Colleges Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The drop-in event is designed for students interested in learning more about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Activities will include STEM program information and career advising, STEM speakers throughout the day from industry and academia, micro-helicopter and robotics competitive obstacle courses and demonstrations and static models of STEM student and faculty work. For more information about STEM Jam! or STEM programs at MCCC, contact William Brownlowe at wbrownlowe@mc3.edu or 215-641-6644, or Robin Zuhlke at 215-619-7440 or rzuhlke@mc3.edu.

Temple Ambler, located at 580 Meetinghouse Road, presents the following events:

International Club Global Bazaar April 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. The Ambler Campus International Club invites all students, faculty, staff and the community to celebrate a multitude of diverse cultures, which will be showcased at the organizations Global Bazaar. This family friendly event will highlight cultural traditions and celebrations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South American, North America and Africa through music, entertainment, food and informative displays developed and presented by students at the Ambler Campus. Young visitors will be provided with passports, which they may get stamped at each country they visit. Prizes will be awarded to world travelers who talk to cultural representatives, answer questions about the countries theyve visited and take part in fun-filled activities designed to help them learn about the rich diversity of cultures found throughout the world. Refreshments will be served. The event is free. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail tuc36466@temple.edu.

EarthFest 2011 April 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. More than 75 exhibitors, including the Philadelphia Zoo, The Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Elmwood Park Zoo and the Insectarium, will take part in EarthFest 2011. School students of all ages are invited to attend and develop displays of their own. EarthFest partner the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society also offers its Kids Grow Expo, featuring the Junior Flower Show, as part of the event. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail duffyj@temple.edu.

Annual Spring Plant Sale May 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The plant sale  an Ambler Campus tradition dating back to the early 1900s  will feature woody plants and perennials in portable sizes, hardy trees, shrubs, and vines, native plants that are attractive to wildlife, herbs, and hanging baskets. There will also be numerous special plants for sale to highlight Amblers special anniversary year. Garden books and garden tools will also be available for sale. Students, staff, and volunteers from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture and the Ambler Arboretum Advisory Committee will be available to answer questions. All proceeds from the Spring Plant Sale will support the Ambler Arboretum Fund and the Pi Alpha Xi National Honor Society. Information: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

June Homecoming/Louise Bush-Brown Garden Dedication June 5 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. (June Homecoming), Bright Hall Lounge; 2 p.m. (Garden Dedication), Ambler Campus Formal Perennial Gardens. Tickets  June Homecoming: Participant  $18 per person; Sustainer  $25 per person; Benefactor  $40 per person. The 2011 June Homecoming, sponsored by the School of Environmental Design Alumni Association, will include the Alumni Association annual meeting and luncheon. June Homecoming will be followed by the formal dedication of Temple University Amblers Formal Perennial Gardens as the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Gardens. During this 100th anniversary of the campus, Temple University Ambler and the Ambler Arboretum of the Temple University is honoring Louise Bush-Browns many contributions to the history of the campus by formally dedicating the gardens in her honor. During the program, campus Executive William Parshall will welcome guests, Ambler Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey will speak about the Bush-Browns and the history of the garden, and an official ribbon cutting will be held for the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Garden. Following the ribbon cutting, guests are invited to take a tour of the gardens, which will wend their way to the Campus Greenhouse for the School of Environmental Designs annual Plant Auction. Information (Garden Dedication): 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Information (June Homecoming): 215-482-0722. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

Northview Garden Tour and Fundraiser for the Ambler Arboretum June 12 from noon to 5 p.m. Call for reservations. Tickets: $15 per person or $20 at the door. In addition to the gardens of the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University, Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey has a garden oasis all her own right in Ambler  Northview. Visitors will have the opportunity to take self-guided tours throughout the many gardens, where garden experts will be available to answer questions about the various designs. The Ambler Keystone Chapter of the Womans National Farm and Garden Association will also provide tea and refreshments. All proceeds from the tours will support the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University. Information or to register: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary.

The Senior Adult Activities Center of Montgomery County, 536 George Street, Norristown, will hold the following events:

SAAC Adult Day Care, an alternative to Nursing Home Care is available  for information call 610-275-1960

Volunteers are needed for Meals on Wheels Program (call the number above)

SAACs Fifth Avenue Boutique opens Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Exercise with Theresa will be held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1 p.m.

Dance class is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Tai Chi is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Yoga is held every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.

Line Dancing is held every Thursday at 10:30 a.m.

Dancing with Joan is held every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m.

Sculpture Class is held Wednesdays from 2 to 3:30 p.m.

Why Should I Learn Spanish? will be held Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m.

Generations On-Line computer classes for seniors will be held Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.  4 p.m.  computers are available during those hours.

Health Living will be held every Tuesday at 1 p.m.

Boomer U will hold the following events. Boomer U is located at 45 Forest Avenue, Ambler. Registration & payment is required for all events: 215-619-8863.

Pilates Class is held Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 a.m. First class is free; please bring a mat. For information call 610-291-5376.

Blue Bell School of Dance, 921 Penllyn Blue Bell Pike, Blue Bell, hosts Argentine Tango Classes and a Milonga dance party every Friday evening. Lessons start at 8:30 p.m. followed by dancing at 9:30 p.m. Andrew Conway, master Argentine Tango dancer, instructor and performer and his partner Linda Chase will instruct. All levels welcome and no partner is needed. Refreshments will be served. Fee is $12 per person and includes lesson and dancing. Information: 215-634-1101 or www.amoretango.com.

The Montgomery Hospital Medical Center will offer the following classes:

Childbirth Education Class- all parents are invited to participate, including those who are delivering at

other hospitals. For more information on maternity services or classes, call 610-270-2020.

CPR and First Aid Courses are offered for beginners to experiences health care providers. Call 610-270-2313.

The Ambler SAAC (Senior Adult Activities Center), located at 45 Forest Ave in Ambler will hold the following events:

Tai Chi every Monday and Thursday at 11 a.m.

Yoga is every Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Friday at 10:30 a.m.

Strength and balance training every Wednesday at 10 a.m.

Armchair Aerobics is held every Monday at 10 a.m.

Gourmet Weight Wise every Thursday at 12:30.

Fitness Center and Pool Room open daily 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

The Diabetes Education Center will offer day and evening classes each month. Health insurance pays for diabetes education classes. Preregistration is required. Call 610-270-2301.

For Kids & Families

The Ambler Kiwanis Club will host its annual Easter Egg Hunt April 26 at 10 a.m. in Ambler Borough Park, located just off of the intersection of Hendricks Street and Valley Brook Road. Members of the Wissahickon Key Club will assist Kiwanians in hiding thousands of wrapped chocolate eggs in a designated area of the park. Also hidden will be plastic colored eggs, which are redeemed for prizes. Elementary school children are separated by age.

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation will hold its 21st annual Storybook Egg-Stravaganza April 15 fom 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Upper Dublin Township Building. Toddlers and preschoolers love this annual event where photo opportunities with favorite friends abound! Treasures are collected from UDP&Rs assortment of lifesize cutouts of favorite cartoon characters from Disney, Sesame Street, Nickelodeon and other well-known animation. Children can have their picture taken with Bugsy OHare; bring your own camera. And dont forget a basket for goodies! $7 for UD residents; $12 for non-residents. Pre-register at 215-643-1600 ext. 3443.

Splash Week is a free week-long program that teaches children and families basic swimming skills and water safety practices. All YMCA branches will host multiple classes each day from April 11 to 15. For more information, contact the Ambler Area YMCA at 215-628-9950.

Healthy Kids Day is April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The day is filled with fun, engaging and artistic activities that cultivate healthy living as part of the YMCAs larger efforts to help more kids and families become physically active. All activities are free and open to the community. For more information, contact the Ambler YMCA at 215-628-9950. No reservation is required.

The Ambler Area YMCA has added several new programs for area youngsters. Classes are held late afternoons or evenings on various weekdays. For more information, visit philaymca.org or call 215-628-9950.

Basic Beading: Ages: 10+. Wednesdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. This class will teach you the fundamentals of wiring and stringing along with how color can be used to create unique and vibrant beadwork design. You will create various jewelry including earrings, bracelets, charm pendants and much more! Supplies will be provided. Bringing your own jewelry pliers or tools would be a plus.

Messin with the Masters: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. Learn about some of the worlds greatest artists. You will be inspired to create your own Starry Night with oil pastels and tempera paints, a tissue paper painted Monet garden, a Picasso head using scraps of paper, a Georgia OKeeffe clay flower bowl and a Rousseau jungle collage.

Super Scientist: Ages: 5-7. Mondays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Well be concocting chemistry experiments such as making slime, mixing potions and having fun with magnet magic. Your budding little scientist will enhance his/her creative thinking and motor skills and to top it off will learn that science can be serious fun.

Wacky Junk Art: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 6 to 6:45 p.m. Why throw it away! Instead join us to make household junk into aliens from outer space, wacky specs, crazy hats, body masks or a recycled train.

Globe Trotters: Ages: 4-6. Tuesdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Youre never too young to start thinking globally. Each week, we explore a new country through crafts, games, music, stories and even some taste-testing. A perfect introduction to our great big world!

Crazy about Crafts: Ages: 5-7, Thursdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Let your childs creative juices flow with our fun arts and crafts projects each week. Fine motor skills and creative thinking skills will be enhanced with this crafty class.

Come out and join the Ambler Area YMCAs Teen and Junior Leaders Club. Participants are given the freedom to plan community service projects year round and truly make a difference in the lives of people in need. Those in Teen and Junior Leaders also attend leadership retreats all along the East Coast three times a year and meet other leaders who are doing the same great work in their respective areas. Dont miss out on this inspiring opportunity. Teen Leaders, ages 13-17, meet every Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Junior Leaders, ages 10-12, will begin in the spring and will meet every Monday. For more information, contact Mike Miles, Teen Director, 215- 628-9950 x 1540 or mmiles@philaymca.org.

Did you know that the new Ambler Area YMCA holds childrens birthday parties at its site for members and non members as well. The Ambler Y does all the work from start to finish and birthday parties include a personalized cake, ice cream, beverage and paper products. Parties are held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and include two party hosts to lead activities, set-up, clean-up and assist with serving. You can have a Splash Party for children ages six to 12 in the new zero depth entry pool with water slide and spray fountains. Up to 25 children have exclusive use of the pool area with 30 minutes in the party room. Sports Parties are offered for kids ages four to 12 with age appropriate activities and games, and sports such as floor hockey, soccer, basketball or dodge ball. Children ages three to five years of age will enjoy parties in the Family Active Center with use of the Moon Bounce and organized activities, such as parachute play and songs. For information, 215-628-9950 ext. 1583.

Community Events at the Ambler Y:

-YAchievers YMCA Achievers is a developmentally based, extracurricular, educational and team mentoring program designed to help students in grades five through 12 prepare for fulfilled livelihoods in college and beyond. Participation is free and all students in this program receive a free YMCA membership. Registration for the 2009 program begins now. You do not need to be a YMCA member to utilize these special services. Call 215-628-9950 to register.

Greater Norristown Art Leagues Childrens Weeklong Summer Art Camps will be held at 800 West Germantown Pike in East Norriton, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout the summer. The cost per session is $125 per student for ages 6 and up. Jo Ann Cooksey Bono teaches an introduction to basic drawing skills and techniques from 10 a.m. until the lunch break each day. In the afternoon sessions, Mary Vogel Lozinak involves the students in hands on projects such as collage, papermaking, T-shirt printing, 3D design and sculpy clay. Fridays Graduation Day includes an art show, awards ceremony and reception for parents, siblings, grandparents and friends. All supplies are included. Students provide their own lunch. A refrigerator is available and the building is air-conditioned. This is the 15th year to run this successful program. Both instructors are professional artists with State Police and Child Abuse Clearances. To register, call Jo Ann at 610-279-1008, or register on-line at www.gnal.org.

Health

Dresher Physical Therapy is hosting an interactive seminar discussing its Golf Assessment Progam April 30 from 10 a.m. to noon at Dresher Physical Therapy, 1075 Virginia Drive, Suite 200, Fort Washington. Physical therapist Chris Miller, certified through the Titleist Performance Institute, will discuss why your body may be the most important piece of golf equipment you invest in and how this can drastically improve your game. $10 in advance; $15 at the door. Call 215-619-4545 to reserve your spot.

The Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment, Center on the Hill and Chestnut Hill Hospital will host a Senior Health and Resource Fair April 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church, 8855 Germantown Ave. The event is free. For more information, call 215-248-0180 or e-mail chseniors@cavtel.net.

The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is hosting Help Yourself to Health, a new six-week workshop for older adults with ongoing health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, heart disease and others. The free workshop will take place at the Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center, 45 Forest Ave. on six Thursdays, May 12 through June 16 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Although there is no charge to participate, registration is required. To register, call 215-619-8863.

The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is sponsoring an eight-week program called A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls. Presented by the Montgomery County Health Department, this workshop will be held on Tuesdays, May 3 to June 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ambler Center, 45 Forest Ave. If you pre-register by April 27, the fee is only $5! Registration at the first class is $10. (Checks should be payable to SAAC and will benefit our Meals on Wheels program that serves homebound seniors.) A workbook will be provided and refreshments will be served. Call 215-619-8863 to register or for more information.

Fort Washington Wellness Center classes are ongoing. There are several offered during lunch or right after work, for your convenience: Boot Camp from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday; Zumba is MWF from 11 a.m. to noon and Friday at 4 p.m.; there are 25 cycling classes; Ashtanga and Vinyasana Yoga and Pilates; and a group Womens Strength Training class M-F from 10 to 11 a.m. Questions, call Cathy DeMarco at 215-641-1245.

Following the success of other local area programs, Impact Sports and Upper Dublin Parks and Recreation are delighted to team up again to offer a spring program for the 2011 season! Upper Dublin area children ages 3-5 years old can attend a Sports Program featuring their favorite sports games; soccer, rugby, hockey, track and field, basketball, and more. The program will start on April 27 and run through June 1. Cost for the program is $85 for the six weeks. The classes will be running 12- 1 p.m.; 1- 2 p.m.; 2- 3 p.m. For more info or to register, call Upper Dublin Township on 215 643 1600 or visit their website a http://www.upperdublin.net.

Spring Aquatic Programs  UDHS Pool:

-Summer is just around the corner  Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool can help get you into shape! Programs begin in March; preregistration is required.

 Shallow Water Aerobics  Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 8-8:45 p.m., $40R/$50NR.

 Adult Swim Instructions  Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 7-8 p.m., $50R/$60NR

-Open Rec Swims are fun for the whole family! Come out on Fridays from 7-9 p.m. or Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. and enjoy use of the pool and diving area. Fridays are offered through June 17; Saturdays are offered March 12-May 21.

-Join a growing group of adult lap swimmers and water walkers. Lanes are set aside evenings and weekends for use; lanes are shared. Monday  Thursday from 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Fridays from 7-9 p.m. and Saturdays (March 12-May 21) from 1-4 p.m.

-Private Swimming & Diving Lessons for ages 3-adult are offered at the UDHS Pool through a partnership with the Upper Dublin Aquatic Club (UDAC). Visit the UDAC website for more information, www.udac.us, and click the link to UDHS Private Lessons.

-Looking for local programs for US Masters Swimming (adults) or Water Polo (all ages)? UDAC and UDSD are working together to develop programs that will be offered at the UDHS Pool. Add your name to Interest Lists by emailing slohoefer@upperdublin.net. emails will be sent about clinics and program start dates.

Questions about Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool, group use of the pool or pool rental? Contact Susan Lohoefer, Facility & Community Affairs Manager at slohoefer@upperdublin.net or call 215-643-8800 x8994.

SilverSneakers Fitness Program. The Healthyways SilverSneakers Fitness Program is a result-oriented program that enables older adults to take charge of their health. The program is an innovative blend of physical activity, healthy lifestyle and socially oriented programing. Members of the program are eligible for a free YMCA membership, with use of the pool and exercise equipment, along with customized classes designed for older adults who want to improve their strength, flexibility, balance and endurance. If you are a subscriber to Independence Blue Cross (Personal Choice 65 PPO) or Keystone 65 HMO, Bravo Health, or Health Options Programs (HOP), call the Ambler Area YMCA, 215-628-9950 or Hatboro Area YMCA, 215-674-4545. You can also visit www.silversneakers.com.

Zumba Fitness offers Zumba dance/fitness classes at Academy of Dance and Music/BBAD Studio located at 1524 DeKalb Pike in Blue Bell (behind Sherwin Williams). Classes are offered three times a week: Tuesdays at 6 p.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. For a free trial pass for your first class, email us at info@danceandmusic.biz or call 610-277-2557. For more info, visit our site at www.academyofdanceandmusic.org.

Chestnut Hill Health Systems presents the following Health Education Programs:

FITNESS CLASSES

Golden Yoga: A Breathing, Stretching and Relaxation Class. Fridays, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Lea Auditorium, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. Registration for four classes at a time required. Golden Yoga is Classical Yoga, adapted by the SKY Foundation, to accommodate those who have difficulty getting up and down from the floor. The program includes postures, breathing, relaxation and meditation techniques, all performed while sitting in a chair and standing. Registration required. Call 215-247-3029. Cost: $20 for 4 classes per month.

Tai Chi: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:30  9:30 a.m. Springfield Residence, 8601 Stenton Ave. Classes, for the novice or beginner/intermediate student, are designed to improve balance, power, posture, coordination, flexibility and mental focus. Slow, gentle movements are modified to most everyones abilities. For more information or to sign up for a free introductory class, call 215-882-2804. Cost: $8 per class/paid monthly.

SUPPORT GROUPS

Weight Loss Surgery Support Group: Fourth Wednesday of the month, 7-8 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. Join us for a monthly get-together where well share information for those interested in weight loss surgery, learn from guest speakers discussing current news on issues including lifestyle modification, nutrition and exercise and provide ongoing support for those who have completed surgery. Registration required. Call 215-753-2000.

Breast Cancer Networking Group: Fourth Tuesday of the month 5:30  7 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. A free, confidential support group for women living with a diagnosis of breast cancer designed to provide a forum for sharing information, feelings and concerns associated with breast cancer. Facilitated by Tish Wakefield, LCSW, Oncology Social Worker. Registration required. To register or for more information, call 215-248-8047.

New Moms Support Groups Tuesdays 10:30 a.m.  12 p.m.; contact Jeanine ORourke, MSW or 2:30  4 p.m.; contact Susan Schack, Ph.D Volunteer Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. The Center for Postpartum Depression at Chestnut Hill Hospital is pleased to offer two new support groups to support new moms. Both groups will be run by experienced mental health professionals who really get it when it comes to new motherhood and juggling relationships, extended family, work/family balance and self-care. If you are experiencing new mom challenges that often heighten anxiety and involve hormonally driven depression, join us for an informative and supportive forum to connect with other moms. Infants are welcome. $30 per session (flexible based on need). Registration is required. Call Dr. Schack, 646-265-2484, or Ms. ORourke, 215-206-2931.

Man to Man Prostate Cancer Support Group Third Thursday of the month 8-9 a.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. A networking group for men diagnosed with prostate cancer designed to provide education, support and encouragement. Spouses and partners welcome. Harry M. Baer, MD, Chief, Urology Division, will host Ask the Doctor. Registration required. Call 215-248-8325.

Contact the Senior Center by phone 215-248-0180 or email (chseniors@cavtel.net) with your questions about these programs or any of our on-going activities and classes.

Holy Redeemer HomeCare and Hospice seeks compassionate and emotionally mature volunteers to provide support to local hospice patients and their families in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Volunteers may also assist with pet therapy and administrative work within the hospice department and are requested to have daytime availability. Hospice patient care volunteers visit with patients in their homes or nursing facilities once a week for two to three hours. They provide emotional support and companionship to patients and family members, assist with errands or provide respite for caregivers. Bereavement volunteers support the families of hospice patients following the loss of a loved one, while administrative volunteers assist with typing, mailings and/or filing. Hospice care workers provide a great service to families and loved ones of hospice patients. Many volunteers also report a great deal of personal satisfaction as a result of their services. Patient care and bereavement volunteers complete an application and attend an 18-hour volunteer training program that covers the medical, psychological and spiritual aspects of hospice volunteering. Day and evening training programs are offered. To sign up for volunteer opportunities in Pennsylvania, contact Holy Redeemer Volunteer Coordinator Jean Francis at 215-698-3737 or email jfrancis@holyredeemer.com.

Librarytalk

Upper Dublin Public Library, 805 Loch Alsh Avenue, Ft. Washington, 215-628-8744

www.upperdublinlibrary.org

APRIL CHILDRENS PROGRAMS:

Storytimes: Please register in the library.

o Wee Ones: 0 to 23 months Thursdays and Fridays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m.

o Tiny Tots: age 2. Wednesdays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. and Fridays 11 to 11:20 a.m.

o Jr. Book Lovers: ages 3 to 6. Tuesdays 10:30 to 11 a.m.

o Bedtime Storytimes: 7 to 7:30 p.m. April 20 and 27. Wear your jammies, bring your teddy & hear Miss Barbara read bedtime stories! For ages 3 to 6.

APRIL TEEN PROGRAMS:

North Hills Library Teens April 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. Movie Matinee

APRIL UDPL ADULT PROGRAMS:

NEW! ESL Conversation Group. Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. Interested in practicing your English in a safe and caring environment? Come to our conversation group and improve your skills! Please register with Kay Klocko at 215-628-8744 or kklocko@mclinc.org.

One-on-One Computer Mentoring. Get personalized assistance from experienced computer volunteers! Sign-up for a one-hour session. Limit one session per month. Please register  contact info above.

Book Groups Please register with Kay Klocko 215-628-8744.

o Daytimers: April 21 at 1:30 p.m. Tired of book groups where you all read the same book? Read any fiction or non-fiction book on this months theme: Explorers. Please register.

Meetings:

Annual Meeting of the Friends of UDPL: April 14 at 1 p.m.

Board of Directors: April 20 at 7 p.m.

Blue Bell Library www.wvpl.org Upcoming Events: The Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 650 Skippack Pike (Route 73) in Blue Bell, is diagonally across from the Blue Bell Inn. Call 215-643-1320 or visit their website at www.wvpl.org.

For children and teens at Blue Bell:

* Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian.

* Mondays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages.

* Fridays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Family Movies, new releases, second Saturdays of the month at 1:30 p.m.

* May 14  Despicable Me

* June 11  Alpha and Omega

* Special Events

* April  watch for date of spring/Easter events

* April 14 at 4:30 p.m.  Junior Lego Club for children ages 3 through 5. Parents and caregivers need to stay with children.

* April 14 at 7 p.m.  Jeopardy for ages 11 to 18. Test your book and library knowledge for prizes. Sign up to be a contestant. No sign up to be in the audience. Snacks provided.

* April 16 at 1 p.m.  Adult Mystery Book Group discussing The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie King.

* April 16 at 1:30 p.m.  Childrens event for One Book, Every Young Child celebration. Story and craft for book Whose Shoes?

* April 19 at 7 p.m. and April 26 at 1:30 p.m.- Adult book group discusses The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. Group led by Adam Button.

* April 30 through May 3  Friends book sale with about 10,000 items for sale for children, teens and adults.

* May  sign up for Science in the Summer

* June  sign up for Enrichment Programs for Elementary-Age children

* June  sign up for Summer Reading, all ages

For adults at Blue Bell:

* Daytime Book Discussion Group  fourth Tuesday, Jan  April at 1:30 p.m.

* April 26  The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

* Night-time Book Discussion Group  third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m.

o April 19  The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

* Art Series with Dr. Sheldon Weintraub, docent at The Barnes and speaker at local colleges

o April 27 at 2 p.m. The Art of Looking at Art-Is She Nude or Is She Naked?

*Mystery Book Discussion Group, third Saturday of the month at 1 p.m.; new mystery theme each month; www.wvpl.org/programs

* Yoga on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop-in class.

* Tai Chi on Mondays at 3 p.m. with Dr. Kurt Findeisen. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop in class.

* Philadelphia Museum of Art presents class on their Marc Chagall exhibit, April 13 at 2 p.m.

* Giant Book Sale, April 29  May 3

o Starts with almost 10,000 items for children and adults!

o Held during library hours.

o Preview for members of the Friends of the Library, April 28 at 7 p.m.

o Join the Friends and attend the preview sale. Modest fee to join.

* Blooms at Blue Bell Gardening Series

o May 11 at 1 p.m.  Summer Bulbs by PA Horticultural Society

* Knitting group Mondays and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Work on your project or observe and learn. The groups continue year-round in the community room.

* Socrates Cafe discussion group every Monday at 7 p.m. You pick the topic to discuss each week. No sign-up, nothing to read.

* Bridge every Friday at 12:30 p.m. New players welcome.

* Mah Jong every Wednesday at 1 p.m. New players welcome.

*Chess every Wednesday at 7p.m. for adults and teens 14 and older.

* Movie Matinee showing recent releases every Thursday at 2 p.m. April 14: Maos Last Dancer; April 21: Welcome to the Rileys; April 28: Conviction; May 5: Inception; May 12: Inside Job; May 19 The Kings Speech; May 26 The Fighter; June 2 Rabbit Hole; June 9 Black Swan; June 16 127 Hours

* Ongoing like-new, year-round book sale for adults & children during library hours

* Library opening at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday!

Ambler Library, a branch of the Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 209 Race St., 215-646-1072. www.wvpl.org. All the following events occur at the Ambler Library.

* Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian.

* Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages.

* Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages.

* For adults:

* Beading Group meets the first and third Monday of every month at 1 p.m. Work on your own projects or come to watch and learn.

* Free Family History Lookup with Connie Briggs. Email Connie for an appointment at the Ambler Library. conniebriggs@comcast.net

* Special Events:

* April 14 at 1:30 p.m.  Book Group discusses Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian.

* April 19 at 7 p.m.  Travel to Paris with world traveler Harry Balin. Tea and scones at 6:30 p.m.

* April 21 at 7 p.m.  Art with Sara for children in fourth through seventh grades.

*May 2 at 6:30 p.m.  Discuss the movie Lone Star with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time.

*May 10  Robert Capucci discusses Art into Fashion. Tea and scones served at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m.

*May 12 at 1:30p.m.  Book Group discusses The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman.

*May 17  Tour the gardens of Devon and Southwest England with Lois McMullen. Tea and Scones at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m.

*June 13 at 6:30 p.m.  Discuss the movie Blade Runner with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time.

Meetings and Lectures

The Unisys Blue Bell Retiree Group will meet in the Church on the Mall in the Plymouth Meeting Mall April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Kathy Sacket Young, director/trainer with the North Penn YMCA, will speak on Keeping Fit in Retirement. For more information, contact Membership Committee Chairperson Jerry Feldscher at 610-275-3538 or President Al Rollin at 215-368-4833.

The next FWBA meeting will be April 28 at the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Networking begins at 11:30 a.m.; meeting from noon to 1 p.m. Leon Singletary, Principal, First Contact HR and FWBA Executive Board, will present: Social Media: How to Use It To Get More Business. Lunch is provided courtesy of the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Members are welcome to bring a guest. An RSVP is requested by return email or 215-628-0313.

Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA is hosting a information sessions over the next few weeks on how to become a Big Brother. The information sessions will take place: April 16 at noon, April 19 at 8 a.m. and April 28 at 6 p.m. All sessions will be held at the groups Norristown Office,t 530 DeKalb St., Norristown. For more information, call 610-277-2200.

The North Penn Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) normally meets on the third Tuesday of each month from now until May. Meetings are held at the William Penn Inn on Route 202 and Sumneytown Pike, Upper Gwynedd, PA. Social hour starts at 5:30 p.m., dinner is served at 6:30 p.m., and the technical program begins at 7 p.m. Cost with reservation is $28 for members. Members without reservations and guests pay $30. Students with reservations pay $15. Reservations may be made by noon on the Monday preceding the meeting by phoning 215-371-1854 or emailing the reservation to northpennima@yahoo.com northpennima@yahoo.com. Information about the North Penn Chapter is available at http://northpenn.imanet.org/.

LeTip, a professional organization of men and women who are dedicated to the highest standards of competence and service meets every Tuesday at Cedar Brook Country Club, 180 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell at 7 a.m. -meeting officially starts at 7:16 a.m. and ends at 8:31 a.m. Our purpose is the exchange of business tips, leads, and referrals. Each business category is represented by one member and conflicts of interest are disallowed. Guests are welcome to visit any of our breakfast meetings.

Every third Thursday of month, Sunrise Assisted Living of Blue Bell (795 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422, 215-619-2777) serves as a satellite site to 148th Legislative district PA congressman Mike Gerber from 10 a.m. to noon. Stop by for help needed with things such as disability placards and license plates, vehicle registration, utilities issues, birth/death certificates,property tax/rent rebates, etc. Notary services arranged by appointment.

The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce is an action-oriented organization dedicated to promoting its members and the economic health of eastern Montgomery county. The Chamber is committed to serving as a catalyst by uniting business, community agencies, government and education to make our county a great place to live and work. For information, call 215-887-5122 or visit www.emccc.org.

Do you have a fear of public speaking? Blue Bell Toastmasters Club can help. We meet from 7 to 9 p.m., on the second and fourth Tuesday at the Marriott Courtyard, located on Route 202, directly across from the Montgomeryville Mall. Learn how to improve communication and leadership skills in a friendly and supportive environment. Guests are welcome. Admission fee: $5. For more info, visit www.bbtoast.org.

The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will hold the following meetings (for reservations to any of the following, email info@PennSuburban.org)

-Breakfast News Network, 7:30-8:45 a.m. at Normandy Farm Hotel (1401 Morris Road, Blue Bell, PA 19422) $15 members, includes full buffet breakfast. Join us for a networking program at Normandy Farm Hotel every Thursday morning for breakfast, business news, informative speakers, and plenty of networking. The cost includes a full breakfast buffet. Copies of the business cards will be made available to those who would like them.

The BNI, Fort Washington Chapter meets every Monday at The Hilton Garden Inn, 520 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Washington for a networking meeting. Meetings are from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Visitors are welcome. The only cost to attend is the cost of your meal. For information or a reservation to attend, please call Luanne Cram at 215-947-7784, or visit our Internet site at: http://www.BNIDVR.Com and click on the menu item Find a Chapter.

For the past seven years, people have enjoyed participating in WVWAs Adopt-a-Tree program. Individuals can support the Association in its reforestation efforts by purchasing native trees to be planted. Supporters can plant their adopted tree or have WVWA volunteers will plant it. Trees cost $30 each. If you would like to volunteer or purchase a tree(s), please contact: Bob Adams at Bob@wvwa.org or call: 215-646-8866 for more information. Check www.WVWA.org for directions and maps.

Sustainable Upper Dublin, http://sustainableupperdublin.org, meets the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m., at the Upper Dublin Township Building, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington, PA 19034. Please send any questions to suec@sustainableupperdublin.org or call 610-996-6316. To learn more about Sustainable Upper Dublin, view or join the discussion at http://googlegroups.com/group/sustainableupperdublin.

Special Events

The Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard will hold its first nutrition class April 19 at 10 a.m. at the Community Cupboard, 150 N. Main St., Ambler. Lynne Sinclair, a nutritionist from Abington Memorial Hospital specializing in diabetic nutrition, will conduct the class. Topics will include healthy eating, beneficial foods, recipes, making meals with every day foods, and how to use unfamiliar produce. A healthy snack will be provided.The class is is open to all residents in Montgomery County.

The Historical Society of Fort Washington presents The History of Conshohocken April 19 at 8 p.m. at the Clifton House, 473 Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington. Jack Coll will present an illustrated program on the history of the Borough of Conshohocken. Coll is a longtime resident of Conshohocken and a member of the Conshohocken Historical Society. He is co-author with his son, Brian, of the Arcadia Then and Now Series book Conshohocken. He has also done books Conshohocken and West Conshohocken Sports and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Italian Feast. He has taken many photos for the Conshohocken Record and the Norristown Times Herald. This program is free. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, call 215-646-6065.

Taste of the White House Soiree featuring former White House Chef Walter Scheib will take place April 29 at 6 p.m. at Manufacturers Golf & Country Club in Fort Washington to celebrate HealthLinks 10th anniversary and honor its founders, the Eugene Jackson Family. The evening will heat up with a Chef Meet & Greet, followed by a specially selected presidential menu. Gala tickets are $150 per person. Proceeds benefit HealthLink, a free clinic providing compassionate, quality medical and dental care to uninsured, working adults in Bucks and Montgomery counties who fall in between the health care cracks. Go to http://tasteofthewhitehouse.charityhappenings.org to make reservations online or lend support through sponsorship. For event information, call 267-699-0124 or email jmarushak@healthlinkmedical.org.

The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association will hold an open house at the Evans-Mumbower Mill April 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. The Mill is at the corner of Swedesford and Township Line Roads in Upper Gwynedd. The open house is free but donations are welcome. For more information, call 215-646-8866 o email info@wvwa.org.

The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce will host Breakfast With Your County Commissioners and State Representatives April 21 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Fort Washington, 432 W. Pennasylvania Ave. Commissioners: James R. Matthews (Chairman), Joseph M. Hoeffel (Vice Chair), State Representatives: Todd Stephens (District 151) and Josh Shapiro (District 153). Register onlineat www.emccc.org. $10 for EMCCC member; $20 for non-members.

Upper Dublins Districtwide Allied Art Show will be held April 27 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in the Upper Dublin High School Athletic Complex.

The Rev. Alfred Muli, chaplain at Fort Washington Estates, will be the featured speaker at the Kiwanis sponsored breakfast observing the National Day of Prayer May 5 at 7 a.m. at the William Penn Inn. The breakfast is open to the public ($15). Reservations can be made by calling 215-646-4356 or by emailing georgesaurman@Juno.com.

The Upper Dublin Shade Tree Commission invites people to participate in its spring bare root planting events, sponsored in part by Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Friends of Robbins Park. On April 9, zix trees will be planted at the Evelyn B. Wright Park & Community Pool, 401 Logan Ave., North Hills, at 9 a.m., followed by the planting of 10 trees at Sheeleigh Park, Loch Alsh Avenue and Douglas Street, Ambler, at 10:15 a.m. On April 29, students from Upper Dublin High School will join the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to plant 16 trees in Robbins Park, Butler Pike and Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, to help launch the societys Million Trees campaign. This event will occur in conjunction with Temple Amblers EarthFest. Experienced tree-tenders are sought to assist the students. For more information,contact Ron Ayres at 215-653-0421 or 215-483-4348.

The Friends of the Wissahickon and the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association are teaming up once again to clean the Wissahickon Creek from top to bottom April 30 from 9 a.m. to noon. This spring marks the 41st anniversary of Wissahickon Valley Watershed Associations annual Creek Clean Up, and the second year that FOW has teamed up with WVWA. Volunteers of all ages will clean the creek, the surrounding trails and the many tributaries of the Wissahickon Creek. Armed with bags, volunteers will be assigned to sections of the creek. Following the clean up, all volunteers are invited to WVWAs Talkin Trash picnic in Fort Washington State Park, with food provided by Whole Foods Market of North Wales. The pavilion is located on Mill Road in Flourtown. To help out in Montgomery County, all volunteers must be pre-assigned a section of the Wissahickon Creek to clean. Please contact Bob Adams, WVWA director of stewardship, at 215-646-8866 ext. 14 or bob@wvwa.org. To work with the Friends of the Wissahickon in Philadelphia, meet at the pavilion along Forbidden Drive, a short distance south of the intersection of Forbidden Drive and Northwestern Avenue. Limited parking is available along Northwestern Avenue and other nearby streets. Volunteers are encouraged to bike or carpool to the event. To participate, register at www.fow.org. Contact Kevin Groves with questions at 215-247-0417 ext. 105 or groves@fow.org.

Montgomery County Community Colleges International Club invites the community to the second annual International Festival April 20 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The rain date is April 26. The International Club will transform the outside quad area into multicultural celebration with various performances by dancers, singers and musicians. Artists will share their artwork at various display tables. Activities include games, raffles, Easter egg decorating and henna tattoos. Students will have samples of international cuisine at tables representing different countries and will serve food from various local ethnic restaurants. Throughout the evening, volunteers will accept donations and will raffle gift baskets and prizes to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. Donations of food, international clothes and prizes are needed. Volunteers, including artists and performers, are welcome. For more information or to sponsor an activity, contact Gillian Nel, International Club president, at gnel9277@students.mc3.edu or 267-974-0163.

The Arts and Humanities Division at Montgomery County Community College is partnering with the Philadelphia Writers Conference to host Memoirs Matter: How Life Stories (Including Yours) Can Transform Your Relationship to Literature April 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Advanced Technology Center room 101, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The event is free and open to the public. In the first part of this two-hour seminar, professor and author Robert Waxler will explain how writing his two memoirs affected his life as well as his relationship to literature. In the second part, blogger and workshop leader Jerry Waxler will present a sequence of steps to help writers find their own story. For information, contact Dana Resente at dresente@mc3.edu.

The Maple Glen Garden Club will hold its fourth annual Plant Sale on May 7 from 8 to 11 a.m. Perennials, shrubs, vegetables and native plants grown by the club members will be sold. The club uses the plant sale proceeds to fund community projects, a college scholarship and community plantings. The sale will be held in the 500 block of Coach Road, Horsham, as part of a neighborhood garage sale. Plants will be sold at bargain prices. For more information, email MapleGlenGardenClub@gmail.com.

The Relay for Life Craft Show is looking for local crafters to participate in show, which will be May 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Wissahickon High School track, 521 Houston Road, Ambler. There is a $10 entry fee, and 20 percent of sales are donated to the American Cancer Society. Participants will receive a 6-foot table under a tent. For information, contact Joanne at joannescoles@comcast.net or Mindy at mcamsilver@comcast.net.

Spring House Estates is hosting its annual book fair on April 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. and April 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Included will be hardback and paperback used books. Spring House Estates is located at 728 Norristown Road, Lower Gwynedd.

The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will present the Penn Suburban/Hatfield Joint Business Card Exchange April 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Univest Bank Lansdale Area Financial Service Center, 120 Forty Foot Road, Hatfield. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. Join Univest National Bank and Trust Co. for a spring-inspired Business Card Exchange at its newest office in the Hatfield Pointe Shopping Center. Come out and meet members of Univests executive management team while enjoying fine food and beverages.

13th Annual Community Reading Day Kick-off Breakfast Get Together April 26 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the North Wales Area Library, 233 Swartley St., North Wales. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. For more information, contact the chamber office at 215-362-9200 or info@pennsuburban.org. Join presenting sponsor Verizon, chamber staff and fellow members for the Community Reading Day volunteer get together. The Community Reading Day program allows volunteers to read a designated book to second-grade students throughout 38 area public and private schools and present the book as a gift to each class. Even if you are not a volunteer, you are cordially invited to stop by to network, enjoy coffee and pastries.

Ambler Mennonite Church is hosting a Spring Craft Show and Flea Market May 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rain date will be May 28. The community is invited to shop the great craft booths, find some gifts and deals, as well as enjoy home baked goods and tasty lunch specials. Childrens activities are planned. All vendors are encouraged to contact the church at 215-643-4876 or AmblerMennonite@verizon.net. Advertising, signage, customer parking and a shuttle to auxiliary parking at nearby lots for vendors will be provided. 10 foot by 10 foot spaces can be rented for $5 each and tables for an additional $5 each. All proceeds from space and table rentals go toward school kits for children around the world. The church is located at the corner of East Mt. Pleasant Avenue and North Spring Garden Street, Ambler.

The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association presents The Life & Times of Aquatic Insects in the Wissahickon Creek April 16 from 1 to 3 p.m. Join WVWA for a hands-on program. RSVP required: www.wvwa.org or 215-646-8866. WVWA member fee: $5 per person / $15 per family. Non-WVWA member fee: $10 per person / $20 per family.

The photography exhibition Natures Palette by photo-artist Judy Miller will run March 18 to May 19 at the Art in the Storefront gallery, 41 E. Butler Pike, Ambler.

JPRN  Networking For People in Transition & People Who Can Help Them  Unemployment remains high. JPRN, the Jarrettown Professional Relationship Network can help. Are you trying to network your way to a new job? Do you have expertise or contacts that can help people in transition? Is your company or organization looking for people in the area? This is a free outreach program to support those seeking work, involve people with contacts and networking know how, and involve local companies. Meetings held monthly at Jarrettown United Methodist Church, Limekiln Pike.

Pennsylvanias Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) grant program is now open for the 2010-11 heating season. Grants are based on income, family size, type of heating fuel and region. Additional information, such as specific income limits, and applications for LIHEAP grants are available online via the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Access to Social Services (COMPASS) website at www.compass.state.pa.us. Applications are available at most public officals district offices, county assistance offices, local utility companies and community service agencies, such as Area Agencies on Aging or community action agencies.

Begin your holiday shopping at Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation! Entertainment books for 2011, Philadelphia North, are now on sale at $30 each. Regal/United Artists movie tickets are on sale for just $7.50 each, and tickets to the Adventure Aquarium, Baltimore Aquarium, and the Philadelphia Zoo are also available. Discounted ski vouchers to area mountains will be arriving in December; call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

RSVP of Montgomery County and the Wissahickon Valley Public Library have partnered again to offer the public their popular free mock interview sessions. The mock interviews are conducted by RSVP volunteers who are retired professionals, some of whom were in hiring positions themselves. Packets of information which include a sample employment application and interviewing tips with mock interview questions are available at the library to pick up prior to a scheduled mock interview or will be sent via email once the interview is scheduled. To schedule your interview, please contact Janis Glusman at RSVP 610-834-1040, ext. 16. The library is also offering a free resume review service. Bring in your current resume and the professional reference staff will assist you with hints and tips on capturing your work history accurately.

Registration for Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation summer playgrounds, Camp B.I.G. and Small Folks, X-Zone, and sports camps has began. Register online at www.upperdublin.net/store, or at the UDP&R office, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington. Call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information.

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Danielles Espresso Cafe presents Mornings at Mondaug Bark Park April 16 and May 21 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Meet fellow dog lovers. These events include complimentary coffee, treats for people and pups and raffles/giveaways.

Upper Dublins Annual Spring Flea Market will be held June 4 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Reserve a table, or come and shop. Tables are $15 for UD residents, $20 for non-residents. This successful event occurs rain or shine. Refreshments available. Call 215-643-1600 ext. 3443 to register for a table.

Regal movie tickets available for purchase at Upper Dublin Township Parks & Recreation. Reduced rate: $7.50 per ticket. Some restrictions apply. Call 215-643-1600 x3443.

Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation movie tickets $7.50 Regal Cinemas, United Artist & Edwards Cinemas on sale throughout the year Monday  Friday from 9 a.m.  4 p.m.

Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation Camp Sign-ups for Stony Creek Day Camp  Stony Creek Tracers and Park n Tots. Register on-line at www.whitpaintownship.org OrCome to Township Building with check or Visa MasterCard Monday  Friday from 9 a.m.  4 p.m. For additional information call 610.277-2400 ext. 374

Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation offers exciting new programs for the fall:

-Returning favorites include UK Elite Petite Soccer, Tiny Dancers, Kiddie Tennis, Fun-nastics, Messy Playtime, Little Chefs, and more. Babysitters Training will be offered in November and December. Continuing Adult Fitness Classes include Cardio Circuit, Core & More, Yoga, Boxing, and Adult G.Y.M. For more information call 215-643-1600 x3443. Register for programs online at www.upperdublin.net/store.

Music and Theater

The community is invited to a Cantors Concert April 16 at 8 p.m. Congregation Beth Or, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen. Listen and hum-along to the Yiddish, pop tunes and classical music performed by Congregation Beth Ors own Cantor David Green and his special guest, Cantor Irvin Bell, from Temple Beth Israel in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The cantors will be accompanied by Mark Sobol and his Klezmer musicians. Tickets are $18 in advance and $25 at the door. RSVP with payment to Barb Murtha, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen, PA 19002, or call 215-646-5806 ext. 220.

Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse will host the Jameson Sisters May 14. Doors open at 7:30 pm, performance at 8:00 pm. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse is located at the corner of Rte. 202 & Sumneytown Pike, Gwynedd. $5 suggested donation. Light refreshment available at a modest cost. For further information, call 215-393-9576 or visit gwyneddmeeting.org/coffeehouse.html.

Celebrate patriotism through song with Gwynedd-Mercy Colleges choir, the Voices of Gwynedd, as it presents Hear America Singing April 15 at 8 p.m. The choir will perform song selections from all over the country, including Georgia on My Mind, New York State of Mind, and a medley including Philadelphia Freedom and Allentown. The performance will end with When the Saints Go Marching In to acknowledge the choirs upcoming tour in New Orleans. Hear America Singing will take place in the Julia Ball Auditorium, located in St. Bernard Hall. Parking is available in lots A, C and D. Admission is free.

The Choristers will present Anton Dvoraks Stabat Mater April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church in Ambler. The choir will be accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for senior citizens, $10 for students and children are free. Tickets will be sold in advance or at the door. For more information, call 215-542-7871 or visit TheChoristers.org

Religious News

The Staircase Gallery at Or Hadash: A Reconstructionist Congregation in Fort Washington will feature the work of Emily Ennuat-Lustine. The artist will be showing paintings and graphics inspired by her own personal spiritual journey and quest for meaning. Some of the works to be shown have been inspired by Biblical Psalms and writings. Her work has been shown at Abington Art Center, Cheltenham Arts Center and Old City Gallery of Jewish Art among others. The exhibition is open Friday evenings starting Feb. 18 after Shabbat services. Gallery hours are: Mondays through Thursdays 10-4:30, Fridays 10-3 and following Shabbat Services and Sundays 10-1. The synagogue is located at 190 Camp Hill Road in Fort Washington. For additional information contact the synagogue office at 215-283-0276.

Reunions

St. Matthews High School Conshohocken Class of 1961 is looking for classmates. For details, contact Greg Marincola at 215-646-2239, 215-740-1296 or gregcola@comcast.net.

Olney High School Class of 1971 is Lloking for classmates for a 40th reunion Oct. 28. For details, contact Judy at ohsclassof71@yahoo.com or 215-870-7572.

Abington High School Class of 1961 is seeking classmates for a 50-year reunion to be held Oct. 14-15, 2011.Visit the website, www.abington61.com, for details or call 215-947-1779.

Overbrook High School class of January 1956 is having a 55 year reunion on May 22, 2011 at the Bala Golf Club in Philadelphia. For information please contact overbrookreunion56@comcast.net

Germantown High School Class Of January 1961 is looking for classmates for 50th year reunion to take place in May of 2011. Please contact: 215-362-9148, 856-577-0659 or samdelcomo@comcast.net

The June 1961 class of Germantown High School is holding their 50th reunion on May 15, which will be a brunch. For further details please contact Linda Dorfman Alten at lindaalten@yahoo.com or call 215-441-8411.

Support

New Life Presbyterian Church in Dresher, will host GriefShare, a special seminar and support group which will run on Monday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., from March 7 through June 6. At each meeting there will be a DVD about the grief process, discussion and reference to a grief workbook. Preregistration is required to secure a place in the group and to purchase a GriefShare notebook (for a one-time fee of $15). The notebook goes along with the 13-week schedule covering such topics as: living with grief, the effects of grief, and stuck in grief. For more information or to register, call: Sandy Elder at 215-884-5149.

PUPS (People Understanding Parkinsons) A self-help group for those adjusting to a new diagnosis or dealing with the early stages of Parkinsons Disease. Meets fourth Tuesday of the month from 1 to 2:30 p.m., at Abington Health Center, Schilling Campus, Willowood Building, 2510 Maryland Road, Suite 251, Willow Grove. For more information or to RSVP, contact Lorna at 215-542-2931.

The North Penn Visiting Nurse Associations Meals on Wheels program is looking for volunteers to pack or deliver meals to the elderly and infirmed. Meals are packed and delivered mornings, Monday through Friday. You can volunteer for as many days per week or month as you would like. Packaging meals requires approximately 2-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves making sandwiches, packaging food into individual serving containers and packing coolers with the meals. Delivering meals requires approximately 1-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves loading coolers into your car and delivering a route of approximately 10 to 15 stops. The Meals on Wheels program is also in need of emergency, winter-weather volunteers to pack and deliver meals in bad weather. North Penn VNA is located at 51 Medical Campus Drive in Lansdale and delivers meals in the Lansdale, North Wales and Blue Bell areas. For more information or to volunteer, please call Bridget, North Penn VNA Meals on Wheels coordinator at 215-855-8296.

Elkins Park Area CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) meets the first Tuesday of every month, 7- 8:30 p.m., at Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital in Elkins Park. For information on CHADD or ADHD, please see our website www.chadd.net/249 or call Claire Noyes at: 215-779-6656.

Center for Loss and Bereavement, 3847 Skippack Pike, Skippack (610-222-4110) www.bereavementcenter.org Offers professional counseling for individuals, couples, children and families dealing with issues of loss and bereavement. Six-week adult support groups: Newly forming young adult grief support group  every other Wednesday, 7  8:15 p.m. (free of charge); Monthly loss of child support  second Mondays, 7-8:15 p.m.; Six-week young loss of spouse/partner  Thursdays, 10-11:15 a.m.; Other groups scheduled as interest is shown for suicide loss support, adult loss of parent, motherless daughters, adult loss of sibling, coping with chronic illness and disability and mens loss of spouse. Nellos Corner Family Bereavement program offers peer grief support groups for ages 4 through teen and their caregivers  Every other Tuesday or Wednesday (free of charge) Local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children also meets at the Center. Registration required. Call for further information.

CHADD is a national organization for children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder, providing education, advocacy and support for individuals and their families with AD/HD. Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital, 60 Township Line Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027, will host children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder on the First Tuesday of each month 7  8:30 p.m. Free, no childcare provided.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphias Kehillah of Old York Road is sponsoring a free Caregiver Support Group for individuals who care for an elderly person with cognitive and/or physical impairments. The group meets at SarahCare Adult Day Care Center, 101 Washington Lane, Suite G-6, Jenkintown, Pa., on the first Wednesday of each month. Patty Rich,
"We take tonight's ceremony as seriously as we do the graduation of our high school seniors, and the diplomas are conferred with much gratitude and respect," said Superintendent Curt Dietrich.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to the Unites States Cui Tiankai has outlined China's stances on a slew of issues of mutual concerns with the United States, including bilateral ties, trade disputes and the South China Sea.

TRADE DISPUTES

According to an interview transcript released on Wednesday by NPR, a U.S. news outlet, Cui said "we certainly don't want to have a trade war with the United States or with any other country."

Noting that "we want to solve it through negotiation and consultation between the two sides," Cui said that "in order for the negotiation, the consultation to succeed, we do need good will and good faith from both sides."

Washington has not extended sufficient good faith in this regard, Cui explained that "the U.S. position keeps changing all the time so we don't know exactly what the U.S. would want as priorities."

"And number two, I think there's been some attempt on the U.S. side to force something like, the U.S. will get 100 percent and China will get zero," he said. "I don't think this is fair. I don't think this is possible. We are ready to make a deal. We are ready to make some compromise, but it needs the good will from both sides."

"In the last few months there have been contacts between the two governments......I think more than once we had some tentative agreement between the two working teams. Then just overnight the tentative agreement was rejected and the demand from U.S. changed. So this is very confusing, and this is making things very difficult," he noted. "We would like to have somebody to tell us the real story ... I think that we still need more good faith."

BILATERAL TIES

Commenting on the cooperation between Beijing and Washington, Cui said "I think between any two countries, maybe especially between China and the United States, there is a certain degree of competition. This is only natural. But there's also a much larger need for cooperation. This is also the reality in today's world."

"Our two countries, together with other countries, are faced with so many common challenges, the so-called global challenges or global issues, and no country can really handle all these things all by itself," he said. "We have to cooperate whether we like it or not. This is a growing mutual need and a common interest."

"As far as China is concerned that we are always ready to cooperate with the United States even if we have differences, and maybe just because we have differences the need for cooperation is even bigger," Cui noted.

When asked to comment on recent reports that Washington has considered proposals to ban Chinese students from studying in U.S. universities, Cui said that "if this is true, I think that this is a very dangerous situation."

"Because so many Chinese students are studying here and a growing number of American students are studying in China. Such people-to-people contact would be the real foundation of friendship and the cooperation between the two great countries," he said.

"I could give you a very specific example. You see in the state of Indiana, there's a children's museum ... a few years ago the museum hosted a big, big event on Chinese culture ... it was a great success. And I was invited to address the opening ceremony and I had a meeting with then-Gov. Mike Pence. Gov. Pence was a great supporter to such people-to-people intercultural exchanges," he said.

"It's certainly a benefit to both, people of both countries. And the local people, they were so enthusiastic about such cultural events," Cui said. "So why should we cut off all these ties, all these natural ties between the two peoples?"

He added that "we are open to American students, professors, journalists or scholars."

REGIONAL STABILITY

Regarding the South China Sea, Cui said "we have sovereignty over many of the islands in the South China Sea. And this has been a longstanding position of China."

"But we are also aware there are some territorial disputes. And now we're ready to work with other countries to have negotiations to have a final solution to such disputes. We understand this will take a long time," he said. "But in the meantime, it is our intention to maintain stability there. That's why we are working on a code of conduct with the ASEAN countries."

"We're making good progress in this regard ... It means before we are able to solve the territorial disputes, we should work together to maintain stability, to try to engage in some joint development of resources there, to keep a good order in the region," he said.

"So I just hope that the United States will join our efforts, will be helpful, not try to disrupt the process towards peaceful negotiations," Cui added.
Veterans Day program at Pennridge North Middle School thanks those who served
By By:

Dr. Francis R. Souder, 85, formerly of Telford, died Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007 in the skilled nursing unit of Peter Becker Community, Franconia Township. He and his wife Marion R. (Parker) Souder celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary in July.

Born in Souderton, he was a son of the late Elvin B. and Mary (Rittenhouse) Souder.

A 1938 graduate of Souderton High School, he received his undergraduate degree in 1941 from the University of Pennsylvania where he was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa. Dr. Souder went on to receive his medical degree from Hahnemann Medical College in 1944 and completed his internship at Hahnemann Hospital from Oct. 1944  July, 1945.

He served with the U.S. Navy Medical Corps for 30 months in San Diego and Long Beach, Calif. during WW II and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant prior to his discharge. He entered his second tour of duty during the Korean War where he served in Panama City, Fla. as the medical officer for the Panama City Naval Air Station and the Tyndal Air Force Base.

Dr. Souder owned and operated his family practice on Main Street in Telford from 1947-1989. He served on the staff of Grand View Hospital, and as its president, and taught at the Grand View Hospital Nursing School. He was a member of the Pa. Medical Society, the Bucks County Medical Society, Diplomat American Academy of Family Practices, and served on the board of trustees at Grand View Hospital, Sellersville.

He was a member of Trinity United Church of Christ in Telford, where he sang in the church choir. He was also a member of the MacCalla Lodge #596 in Souderton, the Raja Shrine, and Lehigh Consistory.

In addition to his widow, he is survived by a son, Dr. Ronald L. Souder, and his wife Susan L. of Green Lane; a daughter, Susan J. Souder, and her husband Stephan Russo of New York, N.Y.; five grandchildren: Jennifer A. Souder of Philadelphia; Emily E. Souder of Philadelphia; Kathryn A. Souder of Washington, D.C.; Noah Russo of New York, N.Y., and Rebekah Russo of New York, N.Y., and two brothers: Attorney Elvin B. Souder of Souderton and Dr. Lawrence Souder of Souderton.

Memorial services will be held on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 12 p.m. in Trinity United Church of Christ, 101 S. Main St., Telford, with calling hours following the service.

Interment will be private in Trinity UCC Cemetery Telford.

Memorial contributions may be made to Grand View Hospital, 700 Lawn Ave., Sellersville, Pa. 18960.

Arrangements are by Sadler-Suess Funeral Home, Telford.
October 05, 2018

How The U.S. Runs Public Relations Campaigns - Trump Style - Against Russia And China

Yesterday several NATO countries ran a concerted propaganda campaign against Russia. The context for it was a NATO summit in which the U.S. presses for an intensified cyberwar against NATO's preferred enemy.

On the same day another coordinated campaign targeted China. It is aimed against China's development of computer chip manufacturing further up the value chain. Related to this is U.S. pressure on Taiwan, a leading chip manufacturer, to cut its ties with its big motherland.

The anti-Russian campaign is about alleged Russian spying, hacking and influence operations. Britain and the Netherland took the lead. Britain accused Russia's military intelligence service (GRU) of spying attempts against the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague and Switzerland, of spying attempts against the British Foreign Office, of influence campaigns related to European and the U.S. elections, and of hacking the international doping agency WADA. British media willingly helped to exaggerate the claims:

The Foreign Office attributed six specific attacks to GRU-backed hackers and identified 12 hacking group code names as fronts for the GRU  Fancy Bear, Voodoo Bear, APT28, Sofacy, Pawnstorm, Sednit, CyberCaliphate, Cyber Berku, BlackEnergy Actors, STRONTIUM, Tsar Team and Sandworm."

The "hacking group code names" the Guardian tries to sell to its readers do not refer to hacking groups but to certain cyberattack methods. Once such a method is known it can be used by any competent group and individual. Attributing such an attack is nearly impossible. Moreover Fancybear, ATP28, Pawn Storm, Sofacy Group, Sednit and Strontium are just different names for one and the same well known method. The other names listed refer to old groups and tools related to criminal hackers. Blackenergy has been used by cybercriminals since 2007. It is alleged that a pro-Russian group named Sandworm used it in Ukraine, but the evidence for that is dubious at best. To throw out such a list of code names without any differentiation reeks of a Fear-Uncertainty-Doubt (FUD) campaign designed to dis-inform and scare the public.

The Netherland for its part released a flurry of information about the alleged spying attempts against the OPCW in The Hague. It claims that four GRU agents traveled to The Hague on official Russian diplomatic passports to sniff out the WiFi network of the OPCW. (WiFi networks are notoriously easy to hack. If the OPCW is indeed using such it should not be trusted with any security relevant issues.) The Russian officials were allegedly very secretive, even cleaning out their own hotel trash, while they, at the same, time carried laptops with private data and even taxi receipts showing their travel from a GRU headquarter in Moscow to the airport. Like in the Skripal/Novichok saga the Russian spies are, at the same time, portrayed as supervillains and hapless amateurs. Real spies are neither.

The U.S. Justice Department added to the onslaught by issuing new indictments (pdf) against alleged GRU agents dubiously connected to several alleged hacking incidents. As none of those Russians will ever stand in front of a U.S. court the broad allegations will never be tested.

The anti-Russian campaign came just in time for yesterday's NATO Defense Minister meeting at which the U.S. 'offered' to use its malicious cyber tools under NATO disguise:

Katie Wheelbarger, the principal deputy assistant defense secretary for international security affairs, said the U.S. is committing to use offensive and defensive cyber operations for NATO allies, but America will maintain control over its own personnel and capabilities.

If the European NATO allies, under pressure of the propaganda onslaught, agree to that, the obvious results will be more U.S. control over its allies' networks and citizens as well as more threats against Russia:

NATO's chief vowed on Thursday to strengthen the alliance's defenses against attacks on computer networks that Britain said are directed by Russian military intelligence, also calling on Russia to stop its "reckless" behavior.

The allegations against Russia over nefarious spying operations and sockpuppet campaigns are highly hypocritical. The immense scale of U.S. and British spying revealed by Edward Snowden and through the Wikileaks Vault 7 leak of CIA hacking tools is well known. The Pentagon runs large social media manipulation campaigns. The British GHCQ hacked Belgium's largest telco network to spy on the data of the many international organizations in Brussels.

International organizations like the OPCW have long been the target of U.S. spies and operations. The U.S. National Security Service (NSA) regularly hacked the OPCW since at least September 2000:

According to last week's Shadow Brokers leak, the NSA compromised a DNS server of the Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in September 2000, two years after the Iraq Liberation Act and Operation Desert Fox, but before the Bush election.

It was the U.S. which in 2002 forced out the head of the OPCW because he did not agree to propagandizing imaginary Iraqi chemical weapons:

Jose M. Bustani, a Brazilian diplomat who was unanimously re-elected last year as the director general of the 145-nation Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, was voted out of office today after refusing repeated demands by the United States that he step down because of his "management style." No successor has been selected.

The U.S. arranged the vote against Bustani by threatening to leave the OPCW. Day's earlier 'Yosemite Sam' John Bolton, now Trump's National Security Advisor, threatened to hurt Jose Bustani's children to press him to resign:

"I got a phone call from John Bolton  it was first time I had contact with him  and he said he had instructions to tell me that I have to resign from the organization, and I asked him why," Bustani told RT. "He said that [my] management style was not agreeable to Washington."

...

Bustani said he "owed nothing" to the US, pointing out that he was appointed by all OPCW member states. Striking a more sinister tone, Bolton said: "OK, so there will be retaliation. Prepare to accept the consequences. We know where your kids are." According to Bustani, two of his children were in New York at the time, and his daughter was in London.

Russia's government will need decades of hard work to reach the scale of U.S./UK hypocrisy, hacking and lying.



The propaganda rush against Russia came on the same day as a similar campaign was launched against China. A well timed Bloomberg story, which had been in the works for over a year, claimed that Chinese companies manipulated hardware they manufactured for the U.S. company SuperMicro. The hardware was then sold to Apple, Amazon and others for their cloud server businesses.

The Big Hack: How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate U.S. Companies:

Nested on the servers motherboards, the testers found a tiny microchip, not much bigger than a grain of rice, that wasnt part of the boards original design.

Both Apple and Amazon denied the story with very strong statements. The Bloomberg tale has immense problems. It is for one completely based on anonymous sources, most of them U.S. government officials:

The companies denials are countered by six current and former senior national security officials, whoin conversations that began during the Obama administration and continued under the Trump administrationdetailed the discovery of the chips and the governments investigation.

The way the alleged manipulation is described to function is theoretical possible, but not plausible. In my learned opinion one would need multiple manipulations, not just one tiny chip, to achieve the described results. Even reliably U.S. friendly cyberhawks are unconvinced of the story's veracity. It is especially curious that such server boards are still in use in security relevant U.S. government operations:

Assuming the Bloomberg story is accurate, that means that the US intelligence community, during a period spanning two administrations, saw a foreign threat and allowed that threat to infiltrate the US military. If the story is untrue, or incorrect on its technical merits, then it would make sense that Supermicro gear is being used by the US military.

There might be financial motives behind the story:

Bloomberg reporters receive bonuses based indirectly on how much they shift markets with their reporting. This story undoubtedly did that.

When the story came out SuperMicro's stock price crashed from $21.40 to below $9.00 per share. It now trades at $12.60:

The story might be a cover-up for a NSA hack that was accidentally detected. Most likely it is exaggerated half truth, based on an old event, to deter the 'western' industry from sourcing anything from producers in China.

This would be consistent with other such U.S. moves against China which coincidentally (not) happened on the same day the Bloomberg story was launched.

One is a very hawkish speech U.S. Vice President Pence held yesterday:

Vice President Mike Pence accused China on Thursday of trying to undermine President Donald Trump as the administration deploys tough new rhetoric over Chinese trade, economic and foreign policies.

...

Sounding the alarm, Pence warned other nations to be wary of doing business with China, condemning the Asian country's "debt diplomacy" that allows it to draw developing nations into its orbit. Pence also warned American businesses to be vigilant against Chinese efforts to leverage access to their markets to modify corporate behavior to their liking.

Another move is a new Pentagon report warning against the purchase of Chinese equipment and launched via Reuters in support of the campaign:

China represents a significant and growing risk to the supply of materials vital to the U.S. military, according to a new Pentagon-led report that seeks to mend weaknesses in core U.S. industries vital to national security. The nearly 150-page report, seen by Reuters on Thursday ahead of its formal release Friday, concluded there are nearly 300 vulnerabilities that could affect critical materials and components essential to the U.S. military.

...

A key finding of this report is that China represents a significant and growing risk to the supply of materials and technologies deemed strategic and critical to U.S. national security, the report said.

The Bloomberg story, the Pence speech and the Pentagon report 'leak' on the same day seem designed to scare everyone away from using Chinese equipment or China manufactured parts within there supply chain.

The allegations of Chinese supply chain attacks are of course just as hypocritical as the allegations against Russia. The very first know case of computer related supply chain manipulation goes back to 1982:

A CIA operation to sabotage Soviet industry by duping Moscow into stealing booby-trapped software was spectacularly successful when it triggered a huge explosion in a Siberian gas pipeline, it emerged yesterday.

...

Mr Reed writes that the software "was programmed to reset pump speeds and valve settings to produce pressures far beyond those acceptable to pipeline joints and welds".

Wikileaks list 27 cases of U.S. supply chain manipulation of computer hardware and software. A search for "supply chain" in the Snowden archives shows 18 documents describing such 'projects'.



The U.S. government under Trump - and with John Bolton in a leading position - copied Trump's brutal campaign style and uses it as an instrument in its foreign policy. Trump's victory in the 2016 election proves that such campaigns are highly successful, even when the elements they are build of are dubious or untrue. In their scale and coordination the current campaigns are comparable to the 2002 run-up for the war on Iraq.

Then, as during the Trump election campaign and as now, the media are crucial to the public effect these campaigns have. Will they attempt to take the stories the campaigns are made of apart? Will they set them into the larger context of global U.S. spying and manipulation? Will they explain the real purpose of these campaigns?

Don't bet on it.

Posted by b on October 5, 2018 at 12:27 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.
But differences have been exacerbated following the election of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Germany is Israel's largest trading partner in Europe and for the past few decades has been perhaps its strongest ally. Israel was established three years after the end of World War II, and the German government has paid billions in reparations to Holocaust survivors and positioned itself as a leader in combatting anti-Semitism.

Merkel, who is accompanied by much of her Cabinet, a large business delegation and her new czar for combatting anti-Semitism, will visit Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and receive an honorary doctorate from Haifa University. It's the seventh such joint government meeting since Israel and Germany established the tradition a decade ago.

Her two-day visit is expected to focus on bilateral economic issues, with an emphasis on innovation, technology and development projects. But looming in the background will be sharp differences in Israeli and German policies toward Iran and the Palestinians.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in Israel on Wednesday for the latest in a series of joint government consultations highlighting the countries' close bond seven decades after the Holocaust, even as recent developments have tested the tight ties.

Netanyahu has been one of Trump's staunchest international supporters, lauding him for pulling out of the Iranian nuclear deal that Merkel and other world leaders helped negotiate in 2015. Netanyahu says the deal, which curbed Iran's nuclear program, does not include enough safeguards to prevent the Islamic Republic from developing a nuclear weapons capability.

Trump also has largely refrained from criticizing Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank -- a frequent European complaint -- recognized Jerusalem as its capital and moved the U.S. embassy there. He also has cut funding to the Palestinians and fully pinned the blame for stalled Mideast peace talks on them.

Netanyahu's rapport with Merkel has been cordial and even cool at times. Merkel has continued to champion the traditional approach to peacemaking, calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state and for Israel to refrain from unilateral steps to undermine its prospect. Germany, for instance, has been among the European countries calling on Israel to refrain from carrying out its plans to demolish a West Bank hamlet it says was illegally built.

Israel has offered to resettle the 180 Bedouin Palestinian residents of the Khan al-Ahmar encampment a few kilometers away. But Palestinians and their European backers say the demolition is aimed at displacing Palestinians in favor of settlement expansion and would deal a devastating blow to hopes for Palestinian statehood.

Israel's Supreme Court recently rejected a final appeal against the plans and residents are bracing for the move any day. Israeli forces are unlikely to carry it out though during Merkel's brief stay for fear of sparking a crisis.

Regardless, Israeli officials say they don't expect that issue -- or Merkel's long held preference to maintain the Iran deal -- to overshadow the visit, which is expected to bring about new economic agreements, the creation of a formal youth exchange and a renewed commitment to combating anti-Semitism, after Israel raised alarm over several recent cases in Germany.

Shimon Stein, a former Israeli ambassador to Germany, said that despite the Israeli government's growing alliances with several eastern European countries in the battle against radical Islam, Germany remains its strongest and most significant European backer.

"These routine consultations have created a symbolism for the relationship that should not be overlooked," he said. "Germany doesn't always see eye to eye with Israel... but it is the leading supporter of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state."

The two countries established diplomatic ties in 1965, after which Germany began paying reparations for the Nazi-led Holocaust in which 6 million Jews were murdered.

The first joint consultation was in March 2008, when Merkel and her Cabinet arrived to mark the 60th anniversary of Israel's independence. During that three-day visit, Merkel addressed the Israeli parliament, in German, and expressed shame over the Holocaust. The 20-minute speech earned Merkel a standing ovation.


A Korean man who had been missing in Palu on the earthquake-stricken Indonesian island of Sulawesi for six days was found dead Thursday under the rubble of the hotel where he had been staying.

The Foreign Ministry here said that his body was identified by a visual inspection. After speaking to the man's family, the ministry will help them arrange a funeral and bring him back to Korea.

But many in Indonesia are still waiting for their loved ones to be found. The massive earthquake and tsunami last Friday took the lives of more than 1,400 people and counting, while thousands have been left homeless.

The world is speeding up efforts to send relief. The Indonesian government said more than 20 countries have offered help. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has allocated US$15 million from its funds.
We are still far from where ...
MERIDEN  St. Andrews Episcopal Church on Catlin Street recently re-opened after the 150-year-old building sustained water damage due to frozen pipes last winter.

Church members returning to the house of worship were also greeted by new rector Mark Byers, who was recently anointed as priest-in-charge, and celebrated his first service on Sept. 2.

Connecticut Bishop Ian Douglas appointed Byers as the provisional priest in charge for a term that will last three years before deciding if Byers stay at the church will continue.

Its early yet, but I keep telling people that things seem to be going really well and were all really excited. Byers said of his first impressions of St. Andrews.

For Byers, his latest stop on his journey of faith is another chapter in a book that he never planned to write. He discovered his calling unexpectedly during his undergraduate studies.

I just was reading scripture for a course and found it was speaking to a lot of things I was concerned about (in) my own life and the world I saw around me, Byers said. I started going to church again and I found it really meaningful, and went from there.

Byers, a Navy veteran who estimates he spent over two years of his life underwater as a submarine mechanic, majored in history at Haverford College after leaving the service. With only a rough plan to teach after college, Byers instead elected to attend Yale Divinity School after a few religion courses piqued his interest.

I thought it would be a fun couple of years, he said. I got there and it ended up being where I figured out where God wanted me to be.

After completing his courses at divinity school, Byers served at a church on the coast of Connecticut for three years before following a passion for new church development.

That passion took him down to Virginia as a new church developer, before heading west with his wife and infant daughter to start a new church in La Quinta, California. After serving out West for five years, Byers and his wife decided it was time to come home.

We eventually wanted to get back to the East Coast, Byers said. My wifes from New York and I was kind of an adopted New Englander. We decided to move again and we came back here to Connecticut.

After seven years at a Thomaston church, Byers now finds himself at Saint Andrews, where about 65 people gather on Sunday mornings to worship. Byers estimates the church has 250 to 300 members. Even with overall church attendance down across the country and in Connecticut, Byers believes church can be beneficial now more than ever.

I think we live in a very anxious and contentious world, Byers said. Its important for Christians to remind ourselves that were trying not to be a part of the contentious and the angry, and to treat people differently than the world seems to.

So, how can Christians help ease the anxiety and contention in todays society? For an answer, Byers turns to his favorite passage in the Bible, Matthew, which reads Why do you see the speck in your neighbors eye, but not notice the log in your own eye?

I just think it's a healthy thing, Byers said of the passage. We fix ourselves before we try to fix other people. Maybe there's never an appropriate time to fix other people, but maybe the best thing for the world is to be better people ourselves.

rchichester@record-journal.com

203-317-2231

Twitter: @ryanchichester1
NORTH HAVEN  A low flying helicopter is expected to install roof components on the new Amazon facility on Sunday.

The fire department issued a statement advising residents that they may hear or see the helicopter flying low throughout the day. The Amazon warehouse and fulfillment center is being built on the former Pratt & Whitney site, 415 Washington Ave. (Route 5).

Please avoid the immediate area around the property as access and viewing of this project will be heavily restricted, the statement said.

The fire and police departments have approved the helicopters use and have a plan in place to ensure the safety of all residents, the statement said.

Richard LoPresti, chairman of the towns Economic Development Commission, said in August that the facility was still on schedule to open in May 2019.

The warehouse will feature mezzanines stocked with products and robots working alongside employees to pick, pack and ship goods throughout the region. It is expected to have an initial workforce of 1,800 and eventually reach 3,000 employees.

bwright@record-journal.com

203-317-2316

Twitter: @baileyfaywright
PLAINVILLE  A New Britain man faces charges of operating an illegal automotive repair shop following an investigation by local police.

Rafael Delgado, 51, of New Britain, was charged Thursday with operating a motor vehicle repair business without a license, according to police.

Police received complaints of alleged fraud at Totally RAD Creations, 143 Whiting St. An investigation determined the business was not licensed through either the state Department of Motor Vehicles or the town, police said.

Police are continuing to investigate the complaints of fraud.

Delgado was released on a promise to appear and is scheduled to appear in Bristol Superior Court on Oct. 22.

dleithyessian@record-journal.com

203-317-2317

Twitter: @leith_yessian
SOUTHINGTON  Firefighters participated in high-elevation rescue training this week at Mount Southington.

Members of the Southington Fire Department were at Mount Southington on Tuesday for the training, which included using ropes and other equipment. .

Its part of our training because we are an all hazards fire department, said Firefighter Chris Fusco, who has been with the department 10 years. No matter what the call, for the most part, we will be able to help out and get the job done.

Battalion Chief Glenn Dube said the department uses ropes in rescue situations at least once a month, typically for situations where cars are down embankments or injured hikers on Ragged Mountain. Ropes were used in the recent rescue of a driver that crashed through a wooden sound barrier on Interstate 84, he added.

Fusco said early in his career he and another firefighter had to rescue a hiker who had fallen about 30 feet to a ledge on Ragged Mountain.

Its a perishable skill, Dube said. If were not proactive were not going to be proficient.

The department does a rope rescue drill once a month at the station, Dube said.

The training on Tuesday was provided by the Connecticut Fire Academy, Dube said.
PROSPECT  Democrat Jahana Hayes and Republican Manny Santos disagreed on nearly everything Thursday except that running for Congress left no time for either candidate to see a movie.

Hayes and Santos are running in the 5th congressional district, the only open seat in the state. The first debate between the candidates, held at the Aria Banquet Facility, was for members of the Waterbury Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Santos, whose family immigrated to the United States from Portugal, is a Marine Corps veteran who served one term as Meridens mayor. He attempted to portray Hayes as a progressive member of a Democratic party that has become co-opted by the Socialist party.

Hayes, who had a child as a teenager and grew up in Waterburys housing projects, was the 2016 National Teacher of the Year.

For her part, Hayes managed one dig at President Trump.

Like everything else that was inherited, Donald Trump inherited a good economy, Hayes said, referring to a recent New York Times expose about how Trump acquired his wealth.

Many of the questions centered on the state and national economy.

Santos praised the Trump administrations efforts to eliminate regulations. Hayes pointed out that a lack of regulation caused the Great Recession a decade ago.

When we talk about regulation, we not only have to make sure businesses are protected but workers as well, Hayes said. Many are there because they are necessary.

Santos credited the 2017 tax overhaul plan for sparking an improved U.S. economy, despite some short term pain caused by recent tariffs.

"Our economy is doing excellent," he said.

Hayes criticized the tax plan for not impacting lower wage earners and for capping the state and local tax deductions at $10,000. Santos stated it increased the standard deduction, which helped more rate payers.

Political watchers have the 5th district race as leaning strongly Democratic. Some experts have said Santos needs to win the debates to introduce himself to voters and get his policy positions to the public.

Hayes has a distinct fundraising advantage and has received support from U.S. Senators Christopher Murphy and Elizabeth Warren as well as an endorsement from former President Barack Obama.

Santos said the states sluggish economic growth is the direct result of destructive liberal progressive policies fully implemented.

He cited health care costs as the biggest burdens on business owners and called the Affordable Care Act, a failure. He supports dismantling it and rebuilding, encouraging competition in the marketplace.

Not enough was done to fix problems with the ACA, and she doesnt believe in tearing it apart, Hayes said.

"This idea of tearing the whole thing down and starting from scratch, I think is dangerous," Hayes said. The Affordable Care Act has helped many, pushing the rate of uninsured people in Connecticut to below 6 percent. People got healthy....I think we need to take the parts that work....then go back to the table and work on the things that do not work."

Among the elements of the law that need addressing are measures to reduce the cost of prescription drugs, she said.

An unskilled workforce is the biggest burden facing businesses in the district, Hayes said.

Our challenge is making sure our education system is matching the jobs of the future, Hayes said.

But job training is only part of the solution, as is affordable housing for workers and families she said. We need to be connecting all the dots, she said.

As an immigrant, Santos said he supports immigrant worker programs but the U.S. needs to ensure immigrants are here legally.

Hayes said the nation's immigration policy does not accurately reflect the needs of the community. In addition to agricultural workers, there are doctors, lawyers who have invested in the American economy and our American communities.

This us against them idea does not work, Hayes said. All of us came from somewhere.

The candidates differed sharply on the role of government.

Santos urged voters to reject "slick emotional taglines and promises of unlimited resources." Instead he emphasized "pro-job principles focused on reducing burdens on businesses and families.

Hayes called for a system that provides more opportunities for all.

mgodin@record-journal.com

203-317-2255

Twitter: @Cconnbiz
WALLINGFORD  CMC Energy Services rated Wallingford among the most energy efficient towns in the state, based on how many households have done home energy evaluations.

CMC, a utility contractor, compared how many homes have participated in the Wallingford Electric Divisions Home Energy Savings Program, which is managed by CMC, with publicly available information on statewide participation in similar programs.

The company released its findings on Friday ahead of Celebrate Wallingford, where CMC will have an informational booth.

According to the analysis, more than one in three Wallingford households have participated in the program, which is offered at no cost to WED customers.

The program offers an energy-use audit and installation of energy-saving products and services.

Every participant who improves their energy efficiency lowers their carbon footprint, said Walter Szymanski, Wallingford Electric Division energy efficiency and conservation specialist, in a statement.

According to CMC, 6,151 households in town received energy efficiency evaluations from 2010 to 2017. Among Connecticut towns with 8,500 households or more, Wallingford has the highest participation rate in utility-sponsored home weatherization programs at 32.7 percent.

This year, an additional 542 households participated in the WED Home Energy Savings Program, bringing total participation to 35.8 percent.

During a home evaluation, CMC energy efficiency professionals determine the amount of warm air that can escape during colder days and evaluates the quality of attic insulation.

Based on their findings, energy advisors implement energy efficiency work, including sealing air gaps in ventilation ducts, door openings and windows.

While I knew that our 1965 house was bad with keeping heat in, Shamila Zubairi, a Wallingford resident, said in a statement.

I was taken by surprise by what areas of the house the CMC energy advisors found to be pulling in the most air.

After participating in the program, Zubairis household has saved more than 2,000 kilowatt hours of electricity, amounting to an estimated $225 in savings each year, according to CMC.

CMC Energy Services is proud to continue providing quality service to Wallingford residents to help make their homes more energy efficient, said Joe Roy, CMC Connecticut branch manager.

WED energy efficiency programs result in over 5 million kWh, saving customers $555,800 per year, according to CMC.

The environmental impact of these efforts include reducing 8,343 tons of carbon dioxide, 4.7 tons of nitrogen oxide and 7.5 tons of sulfur oxide emissions.

LTakores@record-journal.com

203-317-2212

Twitter: @LCTakores
South Korean athletes are getting ready for the Asian Para Games in Indonesia which opens this week and runs until next week. They arrived at the athletes' village in Jakarta on Thursday.

South Korea, which aims to finish in third place, sent a 307-man delegation including 202 athletes in 17 disciplines.


International

Pompeo heads to N Korea with historic deal in play

Mike Pompeo

Washington, Oct 5 (AFP) | Publish Date: 10/5/2018 12:11:35 PM IST

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo heads back this weekend to North Korea as the contours of a potentially historic deal begin to take shape, even if Kim Jong Uns regime publicly stays firm in demands.

The top US diplomat will pay his fourth visit this year to the onetime US pariah as he looks to arrange another summit between Kim and President Donald Trump, who has declared himself in love with the strongman.

Pompeo arrives Saturday in Japan, a treaty-bound US ally which has been privately uneasy about Trumps rapid reconciliation with the totalitarian state, before he meets Sunday in Pyongyang with Kim. Just a year after Trump threatened to wipe out North Korea, Pompeo is hopeful that diplomacy can coax Kim to give up the regimes nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. This is a long-term problem. This has been outstanding for decades. Weve made more progress than has been made in an awfully long time, Pompeo told reporters on Wednesday.

Pompeo has repeatedly declined to be drawn out publicly on the shape of an eventual agreement. The United States has called for a comprehensive accord and rigorous enforcement of sanctions on North Korea in the meantime.

South Korea, whose left-leaning president, Moon Jae-in, helped pave the way for Trumps diplomacy and who will meet Pompeo in Seoul after he visits Pyongyang, gave a preview of what a deal may look like.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, in an interview with The Washington Post, said that the North could agree to dismantle Yongbyon, its signature nuclear site.

In exchange, the United States would declare a formal end to the 1950-53 Korean War, which closed with an armistice rather than a full-blown peace treaty, but North Korea would stop short of delivering an exhaustive list of its nuclear facilities, she said.

Kang told the newspaper that the tradeoff would mark a huge step forward in denuclearization. North Korea has publicly not budged on its positions.

State media ahead of Pompeos visit said a peace treaty can never be a bargaining chip, saying an end to war is not just a gift from one man to another.

Trump in June met Kim in Singapore in the first-ever summit between the countries. No sitting US president has visited North Korea, which according to human rights groups remains one of the most repressive countries on Earth.

North Korea, ruled by three generations of Kims, has pursued both nuclear weapons and diplomacy with the United States for decades.

It reached an agreement in 1994 to freeze nuclear work in exchange for normalization with the president Bill Clintons administration. The deal broke down a decade later, although George W. Bush also pursued talks late in his presidential term.


Minjoo Party lawmaker Lee Hae-chan and Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon led a 160-member South Korean delegation to North Korea on Thursday for a ceremony marking the anniversary of the 2007 inter-Korean summit.

South Korea will pay for their entire trip although typically the host country picks up the tab for visiting dignitaries' accommodation.

A Unification Ministry official told reporters, "We expect to spend W280 million for the trip and authorized the spending from the [inter-Korean cooperation] fund on Monday" (US$1=W1,130).

The official said actual payment will be made after negotiations with the North Koreans over the exact expenses. "The W280 million covers the entire event, but we need to hold talks to determine how much of the lodging expenses we will cover," another ministry official said.

In ordinary circumstances a country inviting officials from abroad puts them up at its own expense, but a government official here claimed, "That does not apply in cases like this involving both government officials and civilians."
By AFP

NEW YORK: Less than a week after settling fraud charges with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk on Thursday derided the agency on Twitter.

"Just want to that the Shortseller Enrichment Commission is doing incredible work. And the name change is so on point!" Musk said on Twitter.The comments come five days after

The statement by the electric automaker's CEO alludes to "shortsellers," investors who have bet that Tesla shares will fall and who are frequently the subject of Musk's derision.

Musk reached a settlement with the SEC that required him to pay a $20 million fine and step down as chairman but which let him stay on as chief executive of the envelope-pushing carmaker.

The SEC had charged Musk with securities fraud, alleging that he misled investors when he tweeted on August 7 that he had "funding secured" to privatize the electric automaker at $420 a share, a substantial premium over its share price at the time.

The SEC filed a lawsuit on September 27 charging fraud and seeking to bar Musk from serving as an executive at any public company. But Musk agreed to settle the case two days later in a resolution hailed by the agency.

The settlement, which still must be approved by a federal judge, includes a provision intended to rein in the Tesla chief's much-criticized use of Twitter.

"Tesla will establish a new committee of independent directors and put in place additional controls and procedures to oversee Musks communications," according to an SEC summary of the settlement.

But two days after the settlement, Musk had already raised eyebrows by tweeting out the video for "OPP," a 1990s hip-hop tune by the group "Naughty by Nature," along with a winking emoji, at 1:22 am California time.

The song jokes about sexual promiscuity, which Musk left open to interpretation by investors.

On Thursday, Tesla shares fell 2.4 percent to $275 in after-hours trading.
By PTI

MUMBAI: The Reserve Bank Friday welcomed the government intervention in the IL&FS crisis as a "timely move" which has "helped stabilise the situation" at the infra lender, and offered full help to the new management.

The regulator is also looking at strengthening the guidelines to avoid situations of asset-liability mismatches by non-bank lenders, especially infrastructure financing NBFCs dependent on short-term liabilities like commercial papers.

"The well structured institutional measures taken by the government in the IL&FS case have been timely and appropriate. These have helped stabilise the situation and RBI will engage with the new management if necessary on assistance on its efforts going forward," Governor Urjit Patel told reporters at the customary post-policy interaction.

In a surprise move, the government took control of the crippled IL&FS group whose 358 subsidiaries owe more than Rs 91,000 crore banks and other lenders and appointed a new six-member board under banker Uday Kotak.

The comments came a day after the new board met for the first time and underlined the difficulties that lie ahead as the size and the liabilities of the infra lending and engineering major has more than doubled.

Asserting that the NBFC sector is "overall quite strong", deputy governor NS Vishwanathan hinted at additional efforts to ensure they do not have to undergo asset-liability mismatches (ALM) in the future.

"We are looking at strengthening there is an ALM guideline for them, but we are looking at strengthening them so that we can avoid rollover risks going forward," he said.

Vishwanathan explained that in the past two years, there has been a rapid increase in the number of NBFCs and their asset growth and these have been depending on diverse sources for their resources, including the short-term commercial papers which expose them to ALM issues, especially the infra-focused ones.

He acknowledged that there is an "anxiety" on the sector but said the central bank is "closely monitoring" developments in the sector.

Vishwanathan said RBI's regulatory and supervisory framework hinges on three principles of protection of depositors' interest, healthy customer interface and avoiding systemic risks.

Stating that the NBFCs play a critical role in the economy, he said the overall capital buffers for them also stand at a strong 15 per cent.

In the recent past, the RBI has been harmonising the regulatory and supervisory practices at NBFCs to get them at par with banks, he said, adding a few non-functional companies have also been weeded out.

"Isolated events should not be seen as having system-wide implications," Vishwanathan said.
By Express News Service

MUMBAI: The newly-constituted board of debt-laden Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) appointed Vineet Nayyar as its vice-chairman and managing director on Thursday.

This is a very complex company, a financial markets intermediary and in a real world space, IL&FS non-executive chairman Uday Kotak told reporters in Mumbai.

The task, he said, would be to build trust, ensure fair value for the assets and enterprises preserved. There are three to four options before the board, Kotak said, adding the task at hand was much larger than anticipated with the total number of entities under IL&FS to be looked at doubling to 348.

Nayyar, a key figure who revived the scam-tainted Satyam Computers, said both the cases are as different as chalk and cheese. Satyam was a simple case of felony  Here the complexity is much larger. There is no evidence of any form of felony. Putting IL&FS back on feet would require efforts at multiple levels, he added.

The board, including its seventh member C S Rajan, addressed the media after a five-hour deliberation at the IL&FS headquarters. While the board members would not get into the details of the immediate plan of action, Kotak said it is committed to meet frequently and stick to the October 31 deadline for presenting a road map prescribed by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

The board also reconstituted core committees and appointed committee heads as per legal requirements, Kotak said.Nand Kishore was appointed as chairman of the audit committee and G C Chaturvedi as head of the remuneration committee. G N Bajpai is head of the stakeholder committee, and Malini Shankar will lead the CSR committee.

On Monday, the Corporate Affairs ministry moved the NCLT to sack the entire board of IL&FS and appoint new board members. A SFIO investigation was also launched to look into the account, audit and affairs of the company.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Japanese auto major Nissan Friday announced Bollywood star Aamir Khan as brand ambassador for its Datsun brand in India.

Khan will be "seen in Datsun India's new brand campaign #ExperienceChange," it said.

Commenting on the development, Nissan India Operations President Thomas Kuehl said, Khan "advocates the bold and fearless attitude of the new generation who strive for excellence and embodies the spirit of Datsun".

The company said its #ExperienceChange is a multi-media campaign that will go live on all the key platforms - digital, print, radio, TV, OOH, dealerships and city activations this festive season.

The campaign will showcase the new GO and GO+ along with Datsun's highest selling model redi-GO, it added.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: A 21-year-old former student of Nizam College died on Wednesday night after he complained of chest pain soon after returning from a workout at the college gym. The deceased, identified as T Vijay, had completed his final year BSc MPC(Math, Physics, Chemistry) last year but had one more backlog to clear. He had fallen unconscious at the gym, following which he was sent back to his hostel along with a friend.

Students protest demanding justice for Vijay, who died on Wednesday night. (Photo | EPS /Vinay Madapu )

The college students staged a protest on Thursday morning, outside the Principal's office, alleging negligence on part of the administration. They claimed that absence of a gym trainer has led to the student's death. Students added that they have given multiple representations to the college administration in this matter in the past.

K Laxmiah, sub-inspector, Abid Road police station, told Express that Vijay, hailing from Nizamabad had come back to the city about 15 days ago to prepare for exams, and was staying in a private hostel.

"Vijay began training at the college gym last evening. He was working out at the gym in empty stomach and collapsed on the ground. His friends took him to their hostel and shifted him to a nearby hospital. Later he has referred to Apollo hospital, where he was declared brought dead by the doctors," the SI added.

Principal Professor L B Laxmikanth Rathore, said parents of the youth have been informed, and his body was taken for postmortem.

"Vijay had come to college to pay examination fee yesterday as he has one backlog to clear. He did warm up in the college ground before proceeding to the college gym around 4.30 p.m. He felt very weak and told the gym in-charge that he wants to sit down for a while and then fell unconscious," said the Principal.

According to Rathore, the in-charge of the gym sent Vijay back to his hostel along with a friend. "In the hostel, he seems to have complained of stomach ache after supper at around 8 pm. He was taken to a nearby clinic where doctors referred him to Apollo hospital in Hyderguda. He was declared brought dead," further added the principal.

He, however, has termed allegations that the student had died due to the absence of gym trainer as baseless.
Anuja Susan Varghese By

Express News Service

KOCHI: As Malayalees cheer the ascension of Gita Gopinath as the Chief Economist of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), back home in Kerala, top positions in think-tanks or corner offices in the corporate world continue to elude women, with an odd exception or two.

Experts attribute womens struggles to the balancing act they have to do between the workplace and the family-household chores, forcing them to sacrifice their careers unless they get adequate support at home. Not just in Kerala, across the world, it is very challenging for women to venture into the top positions. It requires a lot of compromises and most of the women fear taking risks as it may jeopardise their families. Self-courage and support are factors that drive a woman to keep going, said Jaya Jacob Alexander, human resources head, Geojit Financial Services.

ALSO READ: For Gita Gopinaths parents in Mysuru, IMFs tweet came as no surprise

In the modern world, doubting the abilities of women remains prevalent among men which prevents them from acquiring the top positions. Especially, women in the corporate field are seen much lower to men, said Neethi Elizabeth Varghese, founder of Ezva, a multi-designer store in Kochi.

There is a common attitude among people to consider women as a pain. They feel men can take up jobs better than women; they take leave for pregnancy, they have difficulty in travelling and the like. Due to all these reasons, they are held back in the corporate world.

Neethi - daughter of Viju Jacob, managing director of Synthite Industries Ltd - worked for two-and-a-half years with her father. Later, she chose to chase her dreams in fashion.I have seen the negative attitude of men in many corporate places. They always repress women silently, rather than acknowledging their skills. Women remain in the lower posts and men get promoted to top posts, Neethi said. The way women handle situations is amazing, said Uma Preman, founder, Santhi Medical Information Centre.

Men lack that ability to an extent. Women handle a whole lot of things at the same time. They must be encouraged, and in a few years, we will be witnessing a change, she said.A major reason women fall behind men in the corporate world is the maternity leave they take in the course of work, said D Dhanuraj, chairman, Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR).

Once they return from leave, many either resign or dont take up additional responsibilities. After a break, it will be a bit difficult for them to get back to the daily routine at work. There are only five or six women holding top positions in the Fortune 500 companies in the US, known for its liberal values, said Dhanuraj.

As far as small companies are concerned, he said, hiring another person when women go for maternity leave is not affordable. For a country like India, family constraints too are a major hurdle.
By Express News Service

KOCHI: While modifying the sentence awarded by Ernakulam NIA Special Court to Yasmeen Mohammed Zahid, accused in Kerala IS recruitment case, the Kerala High Court on Thursday observed that supporting the ideology of a banned organisation is different from waging war against the nation.

A Division Bench comprising Justice A M Shaffique and Justice P Somarajan issued the order on the appeal filed by Yasmeen, a Bihar native. She was arrested on August 1, 2016, while attempting to travel to Afghanistan with her child. The accused entered into criminal conspiracy with another accused of raising funds for the terrorist organisation.

The court set aside the sentence awarded to the accused of the offence under Section 125 (Waging war against any Asiatic Power in alliance with the Government of India) and Section 39 to 40 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. The court said though there was evidence to prove she had attended classes propagating Jihadi ideology by first accused Abdul Rashid, there was absolutely nothing to prove she had taken any steps to wage a war or attempted to or abetted waging.

However, the court said the accused is guilty for offences under IPC Section 120 B for criminal conspiracy and under Section 38 of the UAP Act for membership of a terrorist organisation. The High Court awarded her one-year imprisonment for the offence under Section 120 B and three years for the offence under Section 38 of the UAP Act. The sentence will run concurrently.
By PTI

LONDON: Director David Yates has clarified his earlier comments and said his upcoming "Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald" will address the sexuality of Harry Potter's headmaster Dumbledore.

The 54-year-old director had earlier attracted the ire of Potterheads after he said the film would "not explicitly" address the character's sexuality and his romantic relationship with Gellert Grindelwald.

In an interview with Empire Magazine, Yates said Dumbledore is shown "gay".

"In earlier interview, I didn't say Dumbledore's not gay. He is," he said.

"This part of this huge narrative that Jo is creating doesn't focus on his sexuality, but we're not airbrushing or hiding it. The story (of the romantic relationship) isn't there in this particular movie but it's clear in what you see that he is gay," he added.

Yates also said that film, which features Jude Law as Dumbledore and Johnny Depp as Gridenwald, has a few "sensual moments" between the two characters.

"A couple of scenes we shot are very sensual moments of him and the young Grindelwald," he said.

Yates also said their relationship will play a pivotal role in future "Fantastic Beasts" movies.

"(The Crimes of Grindelwald) is about other things, fundamentally, but the story of Grindelwald and Dumbledore, going forward, that is the story," he added.

"Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald", also featuring Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller and Zoe Kravitz, will release in November this year.
Sajin Shrijith By

Express News Service

Known for his chameleon-like ability to adapt himself to any role, actor Tom Hardy has admirably managed to find a place beside fellow Brits Christian Bale and Daniel Day-Lewis, who are known for their similar approach and dedication to acting.

For Hardy, the fame didn't happen overnight; it was the result of 17 years of hard work. Before making his debut in 'Black Hawk Down', Hardy appeared in the series 'Band of Brothers', which fetched him a small part in the Ridley Scott film. At one point seen only in small-budget indie films -- usually in tough-guy roles or psychopaths -- Hardy is now recognisable enough to lure audiences to tentpole blockbusters featuring him in leading roles.

Given his remarkable range, it's no wonder why a studio like Marvel would take him aboard something like 'Venom', the independent Spider-Man spin-off. Regardless of the quality of the script, there is a minimum guarantee that comes with any Tom Hardy movie, and that's the actor himself. His mere presence has, on more than one occasion, made a weak movie watchable. Before 'Venom' hits theatres tomorrow, here's a look at his five best performances so far.

Bronson (2008)

Darkly hysterical and deliriously violent, Bronson showcased Hardy in arguably his first breakout role. A biopic of 'Britain's most violent criminal' Charles Bronson a.k.a Michael Petersen, the film saw Hardy at his most unrestrained, doing things that most actors wouldn't dare. Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, the film is a fascinating meditation on violence and gives us a peek into the mind of a troubled criminal who hops from one prison to another owing to his multiple rage-fueled episodes. On seeing Hardy's portrayal, the real Charles Bronson, who was initially hesitant about any actor portraying him, was so impressed that he is said to have remarked, "Tom looks more like me than I look like me."

Locke (2013)

Perhaps the most challenging entry in Hardy's filmography, Steven Knight's Locke had the actor carrying the entire film on his shoulders, playing a construction foreman who takes a road-trip from Birmingham to London. Throughout the film, we are stuck with Locke and no one else, watching him display a diverse range of emotions from guilt to sadness to anger. Though a few other actors were part of the film, they are only present as voices coming from Locke's cellphone. Their revelatory conversations with Locke -- and the imaginary ones Locke has with himself and his dead father -- give the viewer a fairly good picture of the man's life.

The Take (2009)

A nasty, mean and appropriately vicious 4-episode long crime series, The Take is Britain's answer to Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas. Set in the 1980s, the series starred Hardy as Freddie Jackson, a brutish and menacing thug straight out of prison. With his devilish gaze and snaky demeanour, Hardy is a terrifying presence on screen. It's worth noting that despite playing a despicable character, there are moments where the character's softer side stands out in uncomfortable contrast to his hard side, and this is not an easy thing to pull off.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

It was a given that Heath Ledger's benchmark-setting portrayal of The Joker would be a hard act to follow. But then it was quite obvious that director Christopher Nolan wasn't looking for anyone to top the Joker. And from Hardy's performance as Bane, one can see that it didn't carry the weight of the audience's expectations. The actor held his own, delivering a three-dimensional villain who was capable of overshadowing Batman, although not quite to the extent as the Joker. In spite of having on a mask that obscured most of his face and the occasionally indecipherable voice, Hardy used his expressive eyes and incredible body language to great effect. Bane is, undoubtedly, one of cinema's most memorable villains.

RocknRolla (2008)

I think it's only fitting that one discusses Hardy's supporting turn in Guy Ritchie's return-to-form crime caper after mentioning Bane because it was this role that gave Nolan the impetus to cast Hardy in that role. Hardy played Handsome Bob, a closeted gay who, in spite of being part of a comedy, is not associated with the usual gay cliches. Among the film's stand-out moments is Gerard Butler's hilarious reaction to Handsome Bob's revelation and the subsequent taunts by Butler's buddies.

Honourable mentions:

Warrior (2011)

Peaky Blinders (2013-present)

The Drop (2014)
Bloomberg news described President Moon Jae-in as a "de facto spokesman" for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a recent article, raising expectations of furious protests from Cheong Wa Dae. But there was none. Even during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, Cheong Wa Dae would react furiously to such accusations, but perhaps now it no longer feels insulted. It would not be surprising given that Moon's approval ratings surge more than 10 percent every time he shakes hands with Kim and members of the presidential entourage last month were apparently mesmerized by Kim's younger sister, Yo-jong.

Moon's speech at the mass games in Pyongyang underscored this fact. He told 150,000 Pyongyang residents, "I witnessed the amazing development of Pyongyang. My heart was overwhelmed after realizing what kind of country Chairman Kim Jong-un and our brethren in the North are trying to create. I was able to confirm just how much you all yearn for reconciliation and peace between our people. I saw the indomitable courage you displayed in the midst of difficult times in order to stand up on your own." Whenever Moon uttered a phrase, all 150,000 North Koreans in the stadium raised their arms and shouted in ghastly unison.

But downtown Pyongyang is a Potemkin village, and the rest of North Korea looks much the same as it did 50 or 150 years ago. There are fears that mass starvation will hit again. But some people insist on seeing only the "amazing development" of the isolated crackpot state.

In the World Bank's latest governance report, North Korea ranked at the bottom of the world in freedom of speech, regulatory quality and the rule of law. But some people's hearts are "overwhelmed" when they look at this train wreck. It doesn't matter if North Korea develops weapons of mass destruction, sinks South Korean ships or shoots South Korean citizens who are on vacation. Those at the top here only see what they want to see.

A considerable number of South Koreans did feel troubled by Moon's speech in Pyongyang. They will have been reminded of Lim Su-kyung, a well-meaning South Korean university student who broke the law to travel to Pyongyang to attend a world youth festival in 1989 and has since become a byword for naivety. Many South Korean officials who went to Pyongyang with Moon said they were moved by what they saw there, and surveys show that more South Koreans were moved by Moon's speech rather than alarmed. No wonder Moon does not mind being labeled Kim's chief spokesman.

At home, the government wants to shorten the mandatory military service and cover the shortfall with advanced weaponry. That is the crux of the government's military reforms. But at the same time, in talks with the North, it agreed to temper advanced weapons development and deployment. Yet not a single South Korean soldier has voiced concerns. Who is speaking up for the safety and rights of South Koreans?

Of course many people are relieved by the easing of cross-border tensions and rejoice in the prospect of reunification. But what is even more important than reunification itself is how to go about that process. Democracy, freedom and human rights must be upheld if it is to succeed, and as long as Kim has any muscle to flex that cannot be assured.

Where is this country headed? The U.S.-based Human Rights Foundation said the South Korean government has shown that it is more interested in improving relations with North Korea than upholding the human rights of North Koreans. The U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea said it was "very regretful" to see activists in South Korea face "censorship and restrictions" and their budgets shaved.

Many South Koreans, especially young people, rightly remain suspicious of North Korea's sincerity. But who is speaking up for them? Xi Jinping? Vladmir Putin? Kim Jong-un? U.S. President Donald Trump says he and Kim "fell in love," and South Korea's own president is acting as Kim's loudhailer on the world stage. Who is standing up for us?

North Korea, even so, only let those who were allowed into the stadium that day hear Moon's speech, and most North Koreans have not seen Kim's latest gestures of humility and respect for his people that have been all over the news here. All of it was a show aimed at duping South Koreans, because the South holds the key to achieving the North's goals. People here need to be vigilant at a time when nobody is speaking up for their interests.


Shilajit Mitra By

Express News Service

Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan, Tabu

Direction: Sriram Raghavan

Rating: 4/5

A blind pianist is invited to play for an old-timey movie star and his trophy wife. There are secret lovers, snoopy neighbours and bad timing involved. There's also a loaded gun lying around, just so you know. This is exactly the sort of wishful, prototypical noir set-up you expect frisky film schoolers to make a mess out of  laying it on thick with plot turns, homages, MacGuffins, femme fatales and the customary house cat. Sriram Raghavans new film, AndhaDhun, has all of those elements  right down to a wily character being referred to as The Third Man  but this is no work of a dormroom enthusiast. Set in Pune (also the town of Raghavans alma mater FTII), this is a film made with absolute dexterity and deftness of craft, even though in essence it remains a wide-eyed ode to movie magic.

READ | A good thriller was always on my bucket list: Ayushmann Khuranna on his upcoming film 'AndhaDhun'

The task of a good thriller is to make the vital look incidental. A man goes to report a murder and runs into the perpetrator. A lift door opens onto a crime scene. A CGI rabbit bounces off a windshield and turns the plot on its sardonic head. Structurally, AndhaDhun mirrors the cascading chaos of Johnny Gaddaar  full of curveballs, double-crosses and impish gambits  although the intention here is far more comical.

To that end, Ayushmann Khurrana is a perfect fit as the slippery protagonist. He sniffs out situational humour in every scene and renders it with a clipped precision, knowing, at each beat, just how much to give away. The actor has clearly trained hard at the piano, and also at adopting a blind mans gait, but these are just flourishes to complement the crooked dubiousness he brings to the character. I don't like invisible tension, Sophie (Radhika Apte in a surprisingly sunny role) tells Ayushmanns Akash in an early scene. It gives me pimples. This is not a plug for some underhand cosmetic endorsement, but considering the frequency of gasps this film manages to draw, some skincare might just go with the headshakes.

Raghavan creates a world interchangeably familiar and pulpy. Borrowing the bare bones from the 13-minute French short film Laccordeur (The Piano Turner), he strings together ingenious set-pieces and populates them with wryly-written characters. Veteran actor Anil Dhawan sets things off with a scrumptiously meta performance: his character, Pramod Sinha, is a washed-up 70s actor looking to have a crack at real estate. His apartment is decked up with movie-posters of Dhawans own films  Chetna, Honeymoon, Darwaza  and ever so often we cut to clippings of his hit songs, including a ticklish use of Tere Galiyon Mein Na Rakhenge Kadam from Hawaz. (Strangely, theres also a reference to a fictional spin-off franchise called Nurse Radha, possibly inspired by Waheeda Rehmans character in Khamoshi).

Tabu, playing the delusive Mrs. Sinha, glides and cruises through her performance, making the script cower and simper for daring to challenge her. In a kitchen scene, she details to her husband her exact approach with crabmeat: I don't like shocking the wiggly animal by dipping it into boiling water, she explains in a considerate, MasterChef-voice. I first freeze it to sleep, and only after it is peacefully comatose, I dunk it into the pot. The foreshadowing is lost on her husband, who continues to urge her to start her own cooking show, but we  the audience  are potently alerted about the wreckage to come. Danger in Raghavan's kitchen is a dish best cooked cold.

The editing of AndhaDhun is gripping and symphonic, rising and falling and trailing off into sudden interludes. The first half is breathless, while the second half slackens considerably. Amit Tridevis songs (barring the heartful Naina Da Kya Kasoor) sit awkwardly with the instrumental portions, played by Mumbai-based pianist Jarvis Menezes. The script is mapped out like a falling set of dominoes, and in portions where the pattern gets too tiring, theres always a clever aside or new revelation to cheer things up. This is where Raghavan  at 55 and just 5 films old  gets to flaunt his real mastery. Nothing is what it seems under his watch. Is our protagonist really blind? Who is an accomplice and who isn't, and for how long? Where's the money? Where's the gun? Were they even there? The trailer had promised intrigue and duplicity, and the film delivers profusely on both fronts.

Towards the end  when all is resolved and yet nothing is  a scheming organ trafficker asserts acerbically, What is life? It all depends on the liver. With nerve-pinching thrills and bloodstained humour, AndhaDhun is a film for all organs  kidney, liver, and eye. Hold on dearly to as many you have left. Nurse Radha may still be afoot.
By Express News Service

JAIPUR: With the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) deciding not to ally with the Congress for the upcoming assembly elections in Rajasthan, new political equations have started taking shape.

Although the political battle in the desert state is touted to be between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Opposition Congress, the BSP, which won 3 seats in the 2013 Assembly elections, may be looking to combine smaller political parties in the state to form a third front, according to sources in the party who were familiar with discussions.

The vote share of the BSP in 2013 stood at 3.37%. In Eastern Rajasthan , districts which border Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the BSP has a stronghold in 10 districts and may have an impact on roughly 60 seats across the state which are reserved for members of the Schedule castes (34) and Scheduled Tribes (25).

The ruling party said the BSPs move could eat into the Congress vote share. Two parties were trying to forge an unnatural alliance. But wherever there are ideological differences, alliances fail, said Satish Poonia, Bharatiya Janata Party vice president in Rajasthan.

Behenji has asked us to fight the elections alone and her wish will be fulfilled . We are already in touch with lot of people and parties. Whatever behenji orders we will definitely carry them out, said Mumtaz Ali , state BSP head Rajasthan.

Ghanshyam Tiwaris Bharat Vahini party, Manvendra Singh who recently quit BJP, independent MLA Hanuman Beniwal , the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Janata Dal (Secular) are some of the outfits and parties that the BSP may approach, said sources in the party familiar with developments.

The Congress meanwhile, was unwilling to comment on the issue.

Mayawati had on Wednesday attacked the Congress saying that her party had asked for 20 seats out of 200 in the state but the Congress was willing to give out only nine. She cited the issue as the reason behind her decision. The Scheduled Castes comprise account for roughly 18% of the votes in the state.

In the run up to 2019

Political observers, who view the elections in the three states as a semi-final to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, feel it is imperative for the Opposition to pass this unity test if they want to cobble up an anti-BJP alliance for the Lok Sabha elections. Technically, in all three states, the Congress may not need the support of any party, but a scattered opposition will project a negative perception about the

anti-BJP alliance and raise questions on capabilities of its leaders
By IANS

NEW DELHI: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday once again pleaded with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring petrol and diesel under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.

Reiterating his year-old request, Gandhi tweeted: "Respected Modiji, the general public is very upset with the skyrocketing prices of petrol and diesel.

"Please bring petrol-diesel under the GST regime."

His comments came a day after the Centre cut petrol and diesel prices by Rs 2.50 per litre, a decision that was followed by several BJP-ruled states, giving an overall relief of Rs 5 per litre to the consumer.

The Congress had on Thursday described the price cut as "an ant" compared to the hike that was "an elephant".

Last year in October Gandhi had demanded that fuel should come under the ambit of GST to prevent "excessive profiteering". A year on, petrol prices have touched Rs 90, while diesel hovers around the 80-mark.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court Friday acquitted former TV anchor and producer Suhaib Ilyasi of the charge of killing his wife 18 years ago, saying the prosecution's case of murder was not established.

A bench of justices S Muralidhar and Vinod Goel allowed the appeal of 52-year-old Ilyasi challenging his conviction and life imprisonment awarded by the trial court in December last year.

The bench held there was nothing to suggest that Ilyasi deliberately delayed medical assistance for his wife Anju, who was first taken to a private hospital and then to the AIIMS where she was declared dead.

The incident took place on the intervening night of January 10-11, 2000 when Anju was rushed to a hospital with stab wounds she received at her East Delhi residence.

The trial court had on December 20, 2017 sentenced Ilyasi, who had shot into limelight after hosting TV crime show -- 'India's Most Wanted' -- to life term for stabbing his wife to death, saying he "committed murder and gave it a colour of suicide".

The bench set aside the trial court's verdict and said the prosecution has failed to prove his guilt for the offence of murder and that he be released forthwith unless wanted in some other case.

It said merely because the victim was found to be in good spirits around two hours prior to the incident, it would not rule out the possibility of her committing suicide by stabbing herself as a result of her quarrel with her husband.

"The precise circumstances that led to the said decision of the deceased might be difficult to explain but surmises and conjectures cannot substitute proof," it said.

Ilyasi's daughter Aaliya, who was present at the time of pronouncement of the verdict, expressed happiness over the decision and said she always had trust in her father.

"I am very very happy. I am not able to express myself much right now. For all this while, we were silent about it because the judgement was yet to come. We have suffered a lot but I trust my father completely and I had always trusted him," she said.

At the beginning of the judgement, the bench posed the question, "Did the appellant murder his wife or was it a case of suicide?" The bench said the trial court had held that Ilyasi had indeed murdered the victim.

"We, however, think not," it said.

The bench, in its 112-page verdict, said one of the key links in the chain of circumstances, that is the death was homicidal, has not been proved by the prosecution.

It said the evidence of Ilyasi's PSO, who was the first one to enter the scene soon after the incident had taken place, made it clear Ilyasi had opened the door, called him inside and asked to help in lifting the victim.

The bench said the unchallenged testimony of the PSO, who was with Delhi Police, that Anju had told him she committed a mistake contradicts the prosecution theory that Ilyasi murdered his wife.

"Even if the statement of PSO in his further cross-examination by Ilyasi that the deceased was asking the appellant to save her life is kept out of the reckoning, Anju saying that she had committed a mistake supported the theory of suicide. What comes across is that the deceased regretted her impulsive reaction in stabbing herself," it said.

It also noted that soon after the death of his wife, Ilyasi was found uncontrollably weeping by her father and the testimonies of Anju's brother and father suggest that the couple were deeply in love.

The bench said the report of the five-member medical board contained no specific reasons for the conclusion that the preponderance of evidence in this case points towards "commission of homicide".

"In view of the evidence of the medical professionals who comprised the first medical board and in light of the medical literature, this court rejects the plea of the prosecution that the medical evidence unmistakably and conclusively proves that the death was homicidal," it said.

The bench said the forensic evidence had also failed to establish that the death was homicidal as the chance prints lifted from the crime scene did not match with any of the specimen prints of Ilyasi.

"The forensic evidence does not link the accused to the killing of the deceased in the manner suggested by the prosecution. The motive for the crime too has not been established," it said.

Regarding the testimony of Anju's sister Rashmi Singh, the court said it appeared that she may have had an interest in securing the conviction of Ilyasi and her testimony as an interested witness does not satisfy the test of truthfulness.

Ilyasi, in his appeal through advocate Rajiv Mohan, has claimed that the police had not collected any material for three months after the incident and there was no evidence to charge him for the offence of murder.

The trial court had also imposed a fine of Rs 2 lakh on him and directed that Rs 10 lakh be paid as compensation to Anju's parents.

Earlier, Ilyasi was charged with milder provisions, including 304 B (dowry death) of the IPC.

However, Anju's mother Rukma Singh and sister Rashmi Singh had moved the Delhi High Court which in August 2014 ruled that the former TV producer would be tried under Section 302 of the IPC for the offence of murder.

Ilyasi was arrested on March 28, 2000.

Charges were framed against him in the case after his sister-in-law and mother-in-law alleged that he used to torture Anju for dowry.

He was later granted bail.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India claimed in the Supreme Court on Thursday that attempts were being made to malign the poll panel and get favourable order by fabricating the documents in a case filed by Congress leader Kamal Nath with regard to Madhya Pradesh assembly elections.

The top court took strong exception over the claims of the poll panel and warned that it may summon the company which has allegedly made public the data of voters and pointed out the duplication.

The Congress leader said that there is nothing wrong in the submission of the documents and the data of duplicate voters, as pointed out by a private company, has been given to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) O P Rawat.

A bench of Justices A K Sikri and Ashok Bhushan asked senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for ECI, to verify from Rawat whether such documents were given to him or were directly given in the court.

During the hearing, Singh said, "It is something serious which I want to point out to the court and the act is covered under section 193 of IPC (punishment for false evidence). Somebody should be seriously hauled up for this."

He submitted some papers with regard to voters in Madhya Pradesh and said that an impression was given based on fabricated documents that there were bogus voters.

"Some private company called 'politics.in' has published the data of voters with pictures which the ECI does not do.

The petitioner herein has submitted the data relying on such fabricated documents to get a favourable order and malign the Election Commission of India," Singh said.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Kamal Nath, said that there is nothing wrong as the data was in public domain and the petitioner has submitted it to the Rawat as well.

"We have brought it to the notice of Election Commission of India and they have even replied to our representation. What's wrong in pointing it out," Sibal said.

He said that same data was carried and published by electronic and print media also as it was widely available in public domain.

The court said that if the documents were handed over to the ECI also, then it will change the course.

"You please verify with the CEC OP Rawat and inform us by October 8," the bench said and adjourned the hearing of the matter.

On September 20, the apex court had deferred the hearing on Nath's plea seeking draft voter list of Madhya Pradesh in word format, and said the issue requires substantive hearing.

The Congress leader had said that ECI had provided voter lists in word format during Karnataka and Rajasthan elections as also during Madhya Pradesh assembly polls in 2013.

ECI said it received complaints of voter profiling and to prevent the misuse of data it has taken a conscious decision to provide it in PDF format (non-editable).

Nath had said that when the ECI can provide the draft voter list in word format in other states, then what is the problem in providing the list in Madhya Pradesh.

ECI had said that they have received complaints of voter profiling and therefore a conscious decision was taken to provide the draft list in PDF format.

The poll panel said it was done to thwart any attempt of misuse of voters data.

On September 18, the poll panel in its affidavit had justified providing the draft electoral rolls in PDF format in Madhya Pradesh without any pictures of voters and said that it was done to prevent manipulation of the electors data.

It had sought dismissal of petition filed by Nath alleging duplication of names in the voters list as "not maintainable", "completely frivolous" and "an abuse of the process of court".

Referring to the rule of Manual of Electoral Roll, the ECI in its reply on the petition said the draft roll is being put in public domain at the Chief Electoral Officer's website in PDF format and it contains only text and no photographs against the elector's detail.

The poll panel had termed providing of draft electoral rolls in word format in Rajasthan as an "inadvertent error" and in contravention of rules and for the same, necessary action has been initiated by the ECI and the CEO, Rajasthan has been replaced.

With regard to the allegation of 60 lakh duplicate voters being found in draft electoral rolls in Madhya Pradesh, the poll panel said that it has already been replied to the All India Congress Committee after the receipt of field verification report carried out by the CEO of MP.

"Insofar as the allegation of 60 lakhs duplicate, multiple entries are concerned, it is revealed on verification that the complaint is based on limited parameters of common name, relation and gender. It is significant to mention that the other necessary parameters of age and photo have not been included by the complainant in reaching the said figure of 60 lakhs," it said.

The apex court had on August 23, sought reply of poll panel on the petitions filed by Nath and Sachin Pilot.

Nath in his plea, filed through advocate Varun Chopra, had also alleged that in a survey conducted by him in Madhya Pradesh, over 60 lakh fake voters have been found.
Alisha Rahaman Sarkar By

Online Desk

As Jammu and Kashmir is gearing up for its first municipal elections since 2011 and the panchayat polls, which has been delayed for two years due to unrest in the Valley, minorities and activists are sensing and scared of another spell of boycott and violence.

This year 422 municipal wards will go for polls in four phases starting from October 8, 10, 13 and 16.

Similarly, there will be a nine-phase poll for Panchayat elections which will be held on non-party basis. Polling will be held on November 17, 20, 24, 27 and 29 and December 1, 4, 8 and 11.

Panchayat elections for 4,130 sarpanch and 29,719 panch constituencies in the state were last held in 2011 after a gap of nearly four decades when a record 80% people voted despite the 2010 unrest, in which more than 130 protesters were killed. The elected Panchayats completed their term in June 2016.

Probably, this is the first time in Indian democracy that the Election Commission is maintaining secrecy when it comes to the names of the candidates contesting for a local body election. People have no choice but vote for the party symbol. If at all they are willing to cast their votes that is. The last by-polls in Kashmir witnessed a turnout of little over 7 per cent of the voters.

In the wake of debates surrounding the scrapping of Article 35-A (this gives special status to people of Jammu and Kashmir and protects them from outsiders), two of the biggest regional parties, National Conference (NC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have called for a boycott, along with the CPI(M), which only has one Assembly seat in the state.

READ HERE | Ex-polling agent of Hizbul chief among 297 BJP candidates contesting ULB polls in Kashmir

However, the call for boycott didnt stop the Central government from holding the elections, with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh claiming that, any delay in the election will cost the government a loss of Rs 4,500 crore and this election will help establish grassroots democracy in the state. Regional parties being out of the picture means the Congress and the BJP are going to lock horns with each other.

Since the announcement of the elections on September 15, Southern Kashmir, which houses 50 per cent of the municipal wards, has turned into a volatile battleground with rampant killings and abductions. On September 21, three police officers and civilians were killed by separatists in Sopore town and seven Panchayat offices were set ablaze. Three days prior to the polls, two National Conference workers were shot dead in Srinagar.

As the D-day is fast approaching, minorities and activists are scared of separatists wreaking havoc. The separatist groups have called for a shutdown in the Valley on the election day. A statement signed by separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Geelani urged the civilians to observe shut down in their own respective areas as per polls scheduled on all the dates."

Human Rights defender Khurram Parvez is among those who question the validity of the polls and says, Every time after elections the government announces that separatists have been rendered irrelevant and thats why the government spends so much for elections to show that the Kashmir issue has been resolved.

In an atmosphere of absolute militarisation, democracy doesnt hold any value and its all a facade, he adds.

While the BJP has been confident of a clean sweep in the Valley, 13 BJP nominees have quit the race in Anantnags Dooru area over security concerns. A Greater Kashmir report mentioned that 28 per cent wards in Kashmir dont have candidates.

At least 215 candidates have been elected uncontested from Kashmir out of which BJP claimed the party has won at least 70 seats, PTI reported.

The Sikhs, a two per cent religious minority in the state, have also decided to boycott the elections speculating a violent outcome.

How can the government conduct elections in such a volatile scenario? This will further provoke the people in the Valley and people are already scared. The entire Sikh community is boycotting this election, says All Party Sikh coordination Committee chief Jagmohan Singh Raina.

Approximately 17 lakh citizens are eligible to vote in the urban body polls with Srinagar Municipal Corporations having the most number of electors.
Fayaz Wani By

Express News Service

SRINAGAR: Ahead of first phase of Urban Local Body (ULB) polls in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, militants today shot dead two workers of National Conference and injured another in Habba Kadal area of downtown Srinagar.

Police sources said militants fired from close range towards three NC workers at Karffali Mohalla, Habba Kadal in downtown Srinagar.

They said all the three political workers sustained multiple bullet injuries and were shifted to nearby hospital, where two of them succumbed to injuries.

The police and CRPF men immediately laid siege around the area to hunt for the attackers. However, no arrests were reported.

Top police and paramilitary officials also rushed to the area to take stock of the situation.

A leader of National Conference said the party was ascertaining whether the political workers attacked belonged to the party.

National Conference and PDP have boycotted the ULB and panchayat polls in the State by linking their participation to central governments stand on Article 35A, which grants special privileges to residents of J&K.

Over 400 companies of paramilitary forces have been brought to the Valley for smooth conduct of 4-phase ULB and 9-phase panchayat polls in the State.

The first phase of ULB polls would be held on October 8 (Monday).
Anand ST Das By

Express News Service

PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was on Friday pilloried by the main Opposition RJD for saying at a government programme that he is a follower of Mahatma Gandhi and not of Jawaharlal Nehru.

I am a follower of Mahatma Gandhi, not of Jawaharlal Nehru. I follow Gandhi, Ram Manohar Lohia and JP. I believe in walking on the paths shown by them, said Kumar in his address at a workshop of the building construction department for newly recruited engineers. He was, however, quick to add that Nehru had considerable contributions in the freedom struggle and building the nation.

Kumar, who is the national president of JD(U), made the statements while talking about Patnas Jawaharlal Nehru Path, which is better known by its British-era name of Bailey Road. He rued the fact that this major road in the heart of Patna is still called by its old name because those who renamed it did not publicise the new name enough.

In his long political career based on strident anti-Congressisim, Kumar had become an ally of Congress in 2015 after snapping ties with BJP, his current ally in government. The JD(U)-RJD-Congress Grand Alliance won Bihars Assembly polls in 2015, beating the BJP-led NDA. After heading the Grand Alliance government for twenty months, Kumar dramatically dumped Congress and RJD in order to return to NDA in July 2017.

Nothing can be farther from the truth than Nitish Kumar being a follower of Mahatma Gandhi. He also talks about Gandhis seven principles. One of them is politics without principles, and nobody other than Nitish Kumar embodies it better, said RJD national vice-president and former minister Shivanand Tiwari.

Dubbing Kumars snapping ties with RJD and Congress as the height of betrayal with the electorate, Tiwari said Bihars people can never forget how Kumar had attacked BJP and RSS during the poll campaigns. Kumar had called for a Sangh-mukt Bharat (an India free from RSS), he said.

RJD and Congress hope Bihars electorate would punish the ruling JD(U) and BJP in next years Lok Sabha polls and the 2020 Assembly polls for betraying the mandate of 2015 polls.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday tried to play down the massive resistance the Mumbai-Ahmadabad bullet train project is facing, saying there were always naysayers whenever a new technology was introduced.

Similar protests were held in Japan when the Shinkansen bullet train was first conceptualised in 1950s, he said.

Speaking at the International Conference on Technological Advancement in Railways and Metro Projects 2018, Goyal said: I am glad to share that when the Shinkansen bullet train was first conceptualised in Japan in the 1950s, many Japanese politicians and academicians had strongly opposed it.

We have a fair share of naysayers in the country. Whenever we speak of introducing new technology or bring up an out-of-the-box idea, there is a lot of resistance. I am sure when horse carriages were replaced by steam engine trains, there must have been many naysayers.

The minister clarified that the idea of a bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad was not just about speed but about introducing the latest technology in the country and the need of the hour was to see how technological innovations could make the railways safer, more efficient and help expand its capacity at the least cost.

Goyal also proposed that the railways follow the convoy system in freight train movement, which was successfully tried in the East Central Railway zone.
Prasanta Mazumdar By

Express News Service

GUWAHATI: The politics of defection has begun in Mizoram which goes to elections in two months time.

Two former Congress stalwarts  Lalzirliana and Lalrinliana Sailo  defected to opposition Mizo National Front (MNF) on Friday. Lalzirliana had resigned last month as the states home minister; Lalrinliana as an MLA. He is a former health minister.

The defection of ruling party lawmakers to opposition parties has become a growing trend in the Northeast in recent years. It happened in Assam, Manipur and Tripura ahead of elections in the three states. The only difference in Mizoram is that the two Congress biggies had not defected to the BJP.

Sailo told reporters he had quit as the government refused to create a separate district comprising his constituency Tuchang. Lalzirliana had a similar reason.

The MNF is confident that the Congress duos defection would give a shot in the MNFs arm.

We will be greatly benefitted by their joining. In the case of Mizoram, a common opinion is that MNF will form the government this time around. We are hoping to get not less than 25 of the 40 seats, MNF vice president Dr. Thangtea told TNIE.

He said a number of BJP leaders and former Congress ministers and MLAs would defect to MNF in the next few days.

We are getting feelers also from sitting Congress ministers and MLAs. However, at this stage, we are not a position to give tickets to them. If they had made up their minds earlier, we could have, possibly, accommodated them, he said.

He also said that it was for the first time that the Congress in Mizoram was battling dissidence.

A day after the BJP had asserted that it would go it alone in the polls, Dr. Thangtea said the MNF would also like to fight the polls singlehandedly.

Although we are partners in (non-Congress) North East Democratic Alliance, we are not working together in Mizoram. BJP and MNF will contest the elections separately

BJP will, at the most, get two to three seats as Mizoram is a Christian-majority state. They also do not have good leaders. As such, misunderstanding is very common among their leaders. If they had dynamic leaders, they could have done well, Dr. Thangtea said.

Asked about possible BJP-MNF post-poll alliance, he said, This is beyond our imagination.
The government of Japan has agreed to provide a grant assistance of Rs 308 millions for the School Sector Development Programme of Nepal for the fiscal year 2018.

The Exchange of Notes, Grant Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding to this effect were signed and exchanged between the governments of Nepal and Japan at the Ministry of Finance, Kathmandu on Friday, stated a press release issued by Ministry of Finance.

The SSDP is a continuation of School Sector Reform Programmme (SSRP) under the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology. The objective of the programme is to improve the quality, equitable access and efficiency of basic and secondary education in Nepal.

The programme especially focuses on improved teaching-learning and student learning outcomes, improved equitable access to basic and secondary education and strengthened education system, sector planning, management and governance.

Further the programme is being implemented in a more harmonised and coordinated way through joint financing agreement in a sector-wide approach with other Development Partners as well.

This is the seven-year period programme started in the fiscal year 2016/17. The Exchange of Notes was signed by Shreekrishna Nepal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Mr. Masamichi Saigo, Ambassador of Japan to Nepal, on behalf of the Japanese government.

The government of Nepal has expressed its appreciation to the government of Japan for the assistance and the continued support to the socio-economic development of Nepal.

RSS
By ANI

KANPUR: After Uttar Pradesh Minister Satish Mahana and his family members names were found listed amongst the beneficiaries of Centre's biggest health insurance scheme meant for poor and deprived, state Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Thursday informed that an investigation has been ordered in the connection.

The list of beneficiaries of Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Scheme from Kanpur district includes names of Mahana, his family members, a former BJP MLA Salil Vishnoi and several other prominent city builders.

The scheme aims to provide cover of Rs 5 lakh per annum to each family, along with cashless health services.

Maurya told ANI, "We have given direction to investigate and take action against the officers who committed the mistake during 2011 survey. In future there will be many more such schemes as the governments both at Centre and State are committed for the welfare of poor and needy. Surveys will be done in future as well and if any wrong name is listed, we will take strict action against anyone responsible for the same."

"This scheme is for the welfare of the poor, needy and those who cannot afford healthcare in the time of medical emergency. Ayushman Bharat is World's biggest public funded healthcare scheme and it must not be misused," he added.

Mahana has also written a letter to District Magistrate of Kanpur city, informing the latter about the error. He has requested the DM to strike off his and his family members name from the list. The UP minister has also demanded action against the perpetrators.

Throwing light on the matter, Kanpur District Magistrate Vijay Vishwas Pant told ANI, "I have given direction to Chief Medical officer to investigate the issue. All such names will be removed from the list immediately. The error would have happened during the 2011 survey as the list of Ayushman Bharat beneficiaries has been drawn from the same. Action will be taken against anyone found guilty."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 3 had launched the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY)- Ayushman Bharat from Jharkhand's capital Ranchi.
By Express News Service

BHOPAL: In a shocking incident, staff of a toll booth was allegedly attacked by former Madhya Pradesh BJP president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan and aides on Friday evening, after the staff asked the ruling party leader to show his identity proof in Kolaras area of Shivpuri district (275 km from Bhopal).

Two staff members of the toll booth were injured in the alleged attack by Chauhan and his aides at the toll. One of the injured has suffered head injury and has been hospitalized.

The incident which is bound to cause embarrassment to the ruling BJP happened on the eve of party national president Amit Shahs visit to Indore, Jhabua, Ratlam and Ujjain district to kick-start poll campaign in the Malwa-Nimar region on Saturday.

The alleged incident whose visuals have been captured in the CCTV cameras of toll booth happened at the booth located near Purankhedi village on Shivpuri-Guna highway.

Senior BJP leaders, including party national vice president Prabhat Jha (a Rajya Sabha member) and former state BJP president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan (Lok Sabha member from Khandwa seat of the state) were in Shivpuri district on Friday to take meetings of party workers in connection with Amit Shahs September 9 visit to the region.

After the meetings with party workers in Shivpuri district, Chauhan was returning in his motorcade when the toll staff stopped his vehicle on way from Shivpuri to Guna district. When told that the BJP MP was travelling in the vehicle, one of the toll booth staff asked Chauhan to show his identity card.

Instead of showing the ID proof, the MP and his aides started abusing the toll staff and assaulted them. The toll staff was attacked by the BJP MP at the toll booth as well as inside the tolls office, alleged toll manager Mahendra Singh.

The CCTV footage recorded in the cameras at the toll booth and office clearly showed the BJP himself nabbing one of the toll staff with the collar of shirt, drag and beat him. When the other staff members at the toll came to their colleagues rescue, they too were beaten by the ex-state BJP presidents aides.

Two of our staff has been injured in the attack by the MP and his aides. One of the injured staff has suffered head injury and also bled profusely, the toll manager added.

However, when queried by journalists on reaching Guna district, Chauhan denied that he or his staff had assaulted any toll booth employee.

Back in Bhopal, the state BJP spokesperson Rahul Kothari said Nandkumar Singh Chauhan is a cool headed politician and we cant even imagine any violent behaviour from him. A proper probe is needed to find out whether the toll staff provoked the politician with any of their acts.
By PTI

AHMEDABAD: Non-Gujaratis, especially those hailing from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, were targeted in several parts of the state following the arrest of a Bihar native for allegedly raping a 14-month-old girl in Sabarkantha district last week, police said Friday.

Director General of Police Shivanand Jha said such attacks have taken place in Mehsana, Gandhinagar, Sabarkantha, Patan and Ahmedabad districts in the last one week and 170 people have been arrested in connection with the incidents.

The attacks took place after hate messages against non-Gujaratis, particularly those from Bihar and UP, were circulated on social media, he said.

On September 28, a 14-month-old girl was allegedly raped in a village near Himmatnagar town of Sabarkantha district, around 100 km from Ahmedabad, the police had said.

The victim belongs to the Thakor community.

One Ravindra Sahu, a labourer hailing from Bihar and working in a local ceramic factory, was arrested the same day for the toddler's rape, the police had said.

On of the persons who was apparently attacked claimed Friday some non-Gujaratis were going back to their native places.

"We were attacked by Thakor Sena members last night at Kalol town of Gandhinagar. This is injustice to us. That is why we are going back to our native places as we feel unsafe here," the person from Madhya Pradesh before boarding a bus claimed.

Congress MLA Alpesh Thakor, who heads the Kshatriya Thakor Sena, appealed to his community and members of his outfit, who were allegedly involved in the attacks, to maintain peace, saying non-Gujaratis are also our "brothers".

Addressing reporters, Jha said around 18 FIRs were lodged in different districts of Gujarat so far following the attacks on non-Gujaratis.

"We have also arrested 170 persons. We will not allow such activities at any cost. We have instructed local police to increase vigil at factories and (housing) societies having a good number of non-Gujaratis. We are also keeping a watch on social media messages," he said.

After it came to light that the rape accused hailed from Bihar, the Kshatriya Thakor Sena said migrant workers from other states should not be given jobs in Gujarat.

A 200-strong mob, allegedly led by Thakor Sena members, stormed a factory near Vadnagar town of Mehsana district on October 2 and thrashed two employees.

Following the incident, 20 people were arrested on charges of rioting, an official of Mehsana Police had said.

"Since the accused is from Bihar and the victim belongs to the Thakor community, some elements are spreading misleading messages on social media," Inspector General (Gandhinagar Range) Mayanksinh Chavda said.

On October 3, a mob allegedly comprising Thakor community members engaged in vandalism in Chandlodia area of Ahmedabad, demanding people from North India leave the city, said the police.

"Some Thakor youths damaged vehicles and handcarts of North Indians living in that area. These accused were not officially attached with the Thakor Sena, but they are from that community. We have arrested 10 of them," Police Inspector of Sola (Ahmedabad district) D H Gadhvi said.

Several attacks had taken place in Mehsana district during the last few days, which led to the arrest of around 115 people.

Of these, 15 were arrested for targeting people at Indrad village Thursday night, Mehsana Superintendent of Police Pradip Sejul said.

On Thursday night, non-Gujaratis were targeted in Indrad, Borisana and Dhamasan villages of Mehsana district, local police said, At Indrad, around 250 suspected members of the Thakor Sena targeted non-Gujaratis and also pelted stones on police vehicles, they said.

At Borisana, an FIR was lodged against some members of the local gram panchayat for allegedly inciting people to attack non-Gujaratis, they said.

Besides the IPC sections dealing with rioting, around 100 people were booked under section 153(a), which deals with punishment for promoting enmity between groups on the basis of religion, race or language for the Borisana incident, the police said.

On Friday morning, a 200-strong mob gathered outside a factory in Kabola village of Arvalli district after someone circulated a message on social media that the unit has employed a large number of non-Gujaratis, the police said.

While the mob was dispersed by the police, 13 people who were part of it were arrested and charged with rioting and promoting enmity between groups, Arvalli district SP Mayur Patil said.

Meanwhile, Alpesh Thakor claimed he never asked the Kshatriya Thakor Sena to engage in violence or attack non- Gujaratis.

Alpesh Thakor had first raked up the issue of non- Gujaratis while demanding "justice" for the rape survivor a week back.

He had then said locals should be given preference in jobs in industries in Gujarat.

"Non-Gujaratis are not on our target. I have called a meeting of all the office-bearers of the Thakor Sena to discuss this issue. It is also possible that some persons are settling their scores with others in the name of Thakor Sena," he said.

Meanwhile, the Cyber Crime Cell of the Ahmedabad Crime Branch has started arresting persons suspected to be involved in spreading hate messages against non-Gujaratis on social media.

While two have been arrested, many more will be nabbed very soon, Additional Commissioner of Police J K Bhatt said.
By PTI

NOIDA: The Gautam Buddh Nagar administration held a meeting with Sharda University management Friday and suspected role of "outsiders" for triggering violence on the campus, a day after scuffle between Indian and Afghan students at the institute in Greater Noida.

A group of foreign and local students, along with a proctorial board of the university, had met the district administration, including senior officials, at 9.30 AM, even as multiple videos surfaced on social media about the violence Thursday.

While the police have booked over 350 students for rioting and related offences from both the sides as it launched a probe on its own Thursday night, District Magistrate Brajesh Narain Singh ordered a new complaint to be lodged by police against anti-social elements who had entered the campus.

He also recommended strong action against those circulating "inflammatory videos" and said the chief of a fringe group, who has "attempted to jeopardise India's relations with Afghanistan", would be detained under the stringent National Security Act (NSA).

A #Kashmir student was injured after he was ruthlessly beaten by a group of students at Sharda University in Greater Noida area of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday. #video pic.twitter.com/j07RWaOgjS  Kashmir Global (@kashmirglobal) October 4, 2018

"Multiple videos emerged which showed face offs between student groups. Following which we have called for a meeting. It has come to light that local anti-social elements are trying to disrupt peace in the campus as it is escalating Sharda University students' minor scuffle as communal issue," said Singh said.

"FIRs have been filed against Ved Nagar of Gau Raksha Samiti and Deepak Sharma of Rashtriya Swabhiman Dal who had entered the campus and flared up the students' sentiments. I have asked the university officials to identify students who indulge in similar actions/talks and take action against them, while also stopping entry of outsiders in the campus," he said.

"Through his videos, Deepak Sharma has tried to jeopardise India's relations with Afghanistan, create a divide between communities and intimidate Kashmiri students, knowing well the sensitive situation in Kashmir. Therefore, it appears reasonable enough to detain him under the NSA once arrested because his actions have caused a public disorder," Singh told PTI.

He added that after his meeting with the university students and officials, the Afghans and other students were assured of a peaceful atmosphere here.

Thursday's fight between Indian and Afghan students during which a Kashmiri student had got roughed up followed a scuffle on Monday, the purported video of which had surfaced on social media.

Three Afghan students were suspended over the Monday scuffle while 10 others issued show cause notice by the university.

The varsity also announced shutting classes till Sunday, while the mid-term was examinations deferred, according to officials.

"India and Afghanistan are friendly countries with good relations. The university officials have been asked to get the students from both sides to talk so that cordial relations can be restored among them. They have been asked to tell the students to concentrate on their studies and focus on upcoming examinations," Singh told PTI.

Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik and former chief ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah also expressed concern over the incident in western Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida and sought action from the Centre and the state government.

The governor spoke to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Friday morning and urged him to ensure that Kashmiri students are provided a safe and secure environment in the educational institutions of the state, an official spokesperson said.

"Urge PMO India, (UP chief minister) Yogi Adityanath and (Union Home Minister) Rajnath Singh ji to take strict action against the culprits and ensure safety of students from J&K," Mufti tweeted.

"This requires a proper and impartial investigation. Let the facts be brought out and the guilty persons punished. I hope (Union Home minister) Rajnath Singh and (the) Home Ministry will direct the UP government and Noida Police to reassure the students while the investigation proceeds," Abdullah tweeted.

A police officer Thursday told PTI that no official complaint was lodged about the clash in which one Indian student from Kashmir suffered injuries and was taken to a hospital.

The police have taken the cognisance of the case on its own.

The Indian student was sent for medical examination so that it could be checked if there is any internal injury or not, the official had said.

Police force was deployed outside the university along with security personnel of the PAC.

The university had also stepped up security on its premises and denied entry to outsiders, including the press.

"We have booked 350-400 students, Indians and Afghans both, and we are probing the matter. Students are being identified on the basis of the footage that has surfaced and we will soon quiz them and initiate action," he added.

The official said the case was registered under the Indian Penal Code Sections 147 (punishment for rioting), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 352 (assault or criminal force otherwise than on grave provocation), and related offences.

The FIR was registered at the Knowledge Park police station.

Police have also charged the students under Section 7 of The Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1932, which pertains to any act that impedes another person from doing what they can rightfully do, using intimidation, he said.
By PTI

MUMBAI: Over a thousand former students of St Xavier's College here have lambasted the institute for inviting Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray for an event, saying it was "antithetical" to its values.

Aaditya, son of Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, was present at a press conference Thursday to launch 150th anniversary celebration of the college of which he is a former student.

A petition signed by 1,029 former students of the institute said Friday that his presence was "antithetical to the principles and values espoused by St Xavier's College".

It pointed out that in 2010, Aaditya Thackeray had led a campaign against inclusion of Rohinton Mistry's Booker Prize-nominated novel "Such a Long Journey" in the Mumbai University's syllabus for its alleged negative portrayal of the Shiv Sena.

I also joined in the lovely celebrations that have begun at St Xaviers college for its 150th anniversary with a host of other past students. Absolutely a delight to walk through the corridors again today. pic.twitter.com/4ajSiOnN4A  Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) October 4, 2018

Under pressure from the Yuva Sena (the Sena's youth wing) the varsity dropped the book from the syllabus, it said.

By inviting Aaditya Thackeray for Thursday's function, "you are sending out a message that literary freedom and critical thought stand no chance against political pressure tactics," the petition said.

When contacted for his response, Fr Roy Pereira, vice principal of the college who is in charge of the 150th anniversary celebration, defended the invitation to Thackeray.

The alumni invited for the press conference represented a "broad spectrum of Xavierites from various areas", he said.

"All of them may have different personal ideologies, but Xavier's has always been open to diversity. Xavier's stands for inclusion of all viewpoints," he said.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Thursday that his government will continue to take tough decisions and expressed hope that the size of the Indian economy will double to USD 5 trillion in the next five-seven years.

The contribution of manufacturing and agriculture would be USD 1 trillion each, he said, while laying the foundation stone of India International Convention and Expo Centre (IICC) here.

Modi travelled by the Airport Express Metro to reach the venue of the foundation stone laying ceremony at Sector 25, Dwarka.

"I want to assure you that in the public interest, we have taken tough decisions and this will continue," he said, adding India's economy is gaining strength despite global challenges.

The economy, he added, is growing at over 8 per cent and in the "next five-seven years, size of the economy will touch USD 5 trillion and will rise further to USD 10 trillion in the next decade".

Modi further said that the government has recently taken a decision to merge Dena Bank, Vijaya Bank with the Bank of Baroda.

"What is the need of dozens of public sector banks. We have been listening to this debate for years but no one took steps in that direction," the prime minister said, adding the government has also merged banks with SBI and has now decided to merge three more state-owned banks.

Referring to the government's Make in India initiative, he said India has become a hub of mobile phone manufacturing, which has provided employment to 4-5 lakh youth in the last four years and has helped the country save Rs 3 lakh crore foreign exchange.

The government, Modi said, is preparing district-level plans to promote ease of doing business so that they can increase their contribution to the national gross domestic product.

Tourism sector too has recorded healthy growth and has created job opportunities for youth, he added.

Talking about the Rs 25,703-crore convention centre, the prime minister said it would help create jobs for 5 lakh youth.

He said that several countries have emerged as a hub for conference tourism but in India, nobody has thought in this direction.

Now, the government is working in this direction and developing this convention and expo centre with a sitting capacity of 10,000 people, he said, adding this centre would reflect India's economic progress and rich cultural heritage.

He also said it is a part of the government's vision which gives importance to world-class infrastructure, and ease of doing business.

He added that this government has built the longest tunnel, the longest gas pipeline, the largest mobile manufacturing unit, and electricity to every household among many others projects.

The centre would help in promoting startups, industries, improve ease of living for people and the MSME sector.

The facilities provided at the centre will be at par with the best in the world in size and quality, offering setting for international and national events, meetings, conferences, exhibitions and trade shows.

The project is planned over an area of 221.37 acres at Sector 25, Dwarka, here at an estimated cost of Rs 25,703 crore.

The IICC will be an integrated complex with facilities like exhibition halls, convention centre, open exhibition spaces, mixed-use commercial spaces like star hotels (5, 4 and 3 stars), retail services and high-end offices.

The convention centre would accommodate up to 11,000 persons, would have five exhibition halls, 1-kilometre long foyer, multi-purpose arena with a retractable roof.

It will be developed in two phases. Phase-I and II will be completed by December 2019 and December 2024, respectively.
Sandeep Shastri By

Ever since the Karnataka voters elected a new Legislative Assembly, not a day has passed without a new political intrigue or a dramatic turn of events. A government was formed and soon collapsed. Alliances remain shaky and constantly on the edge. The latest set of episodes in the political drama is the talk of resignation of MLAs in order to tilt the majority in favour of either the BJP or help the Congress-JD(S) alliance maintain its wafer-thin majority. The unpackaging of Operation Kamala 2018 has been in the breaking news segment for long, leading one to wonder whether it is more a matter of conjecture than of operational reality!

What are the key factors that need to be considered in this tantalisingly unpredictable political drama? Operation Kamala 2018 seems to be caught in its own contradictions. Karnataka is one state where the BJPs national and state leaderships are not in sync. The partys national leadership would like the present coalition government in the state to stutter along till the Lok Sabha polls, in the hope that they would be able to draw maximum political mileage both nationally and specifically in Karnataka. They could project Karnataka as an example of how an anti-BJP alliance would function and hope for a sympathy wave in the state. Engineering the collapse of Karnatakas coalition government would snatch away any advantage that the party could hope for with an approaching national election.

On the other hand, the BJPs state leadership is desperate to dislodge the present coalition, for multiple reasons. There has been talk of the JD(S) (at least the CM) weighing the option of aligning with the BJP. In such an eventuality, the BJP would be forced to play second fiddle and the party would have to remain content with the deputy chief ministership. Alternatively, if the Lok Sabha polls were to be held with the coalition continuing to be in power, the post-election developments could well be beyond the control of the BJP state party president. His chances of continuing to be the CM candidate of the BJP will gradually diminish. This, to an extent, explains his desperation to take Operation Kamala 2018 to its logical conclusion. Yet, many in the BJPs state unit (save the diehard supporters of the state BJP president) are also convinced that the political costs of Operation Kamala 2018 may be too high. The assurances that would need to be held out, the rewards that would need to be given and the compromises that would need to be accepted could well damage both the image of the party and its unity.

When Operation Kamala I was launched in 2008, it cost the BJP dearly and many believe that the subsequent political convulsions that were witnessed in the party and government were on account of that.Thus, save for the BJPs CM candidate and his core supporters, the enthusiasm for an Operation Kamala 2018 is limited to a select few, especially with national elections fast approaching. This emerging contradiction within the state BJP is reflected in its lacklustre performance in the urban local body elections and visible disinterest in snatching a seat from the coalition in the MLC elections. Despite being the single largest party in the House, the BJP has decided not to put up a fight in the Legislative Council elections, a clear indication of the party not being able to wrest the upper hand.

If the BJP faces internal contradictions, the Congress too seems to have its own share of problems. It does not seem to have recovered from the setback it faced in the Assembly elections. More importantly, in the name of collective leadership, factionalism seems to have come to the fore in the state unit. In the past, the Congress has worked as a united team only when the national leadership made it clear as to who is entrusted with the responsibility of leading the state unit. As long as Siddaramaiah was the CM, it was clear that he was in charge. After the Assembly polls, multiple players have emerged. Each leader is hoping to win the goodwill of the high command and keen to outmaneuver the potential rivals. In the process, factionalism and disunity have come out in the open. The rebellion by a few party MLAs is a reflection of this trend, with each faction positioning itself to gain the maximum political advantage. The Cabinet expansion is yet another occasion for every faction to flex its political muscle. Unless the Congress decides to get its act together, the drift in the party would clearly express itself as more intense factional feuds and internal bickering.

The JD(S), which finds itself in the drivers seat, hopes to make the best of the opportunity it has been provided with. With increasing infighting in the Congress and a faction-ridden BJP, the JD(S) hopes to take advantage of the confusion and uncertainty in the ranks of its opponent and alliance partner. Its political stakes are limited to the state with the realisation that its role in any national formulation would be severely limited. The latest talk of an alliance between the Congress and the JD(S) for the Lok Sabha polls will lead to protracted negotiations over seat sharing. This will be only the first hurdle in this emerging multiple obstacle electoral race.

The developments in Karnataka draw attention to the fragility of party loyalty, especially in the Congress and the BJP. It is clear that the political compromises the two parties made while distributing party tickets in the recent polls (party hoppers accommodated, faction leaders getting their favourites in the list and winnability defined in questionable ways) has resulted in many of those elected ready to switch loyalties if the benefits of such a crossover are attractive. It raises questions on the internal dynamics of parties and the decision-making processes they follow. While seeking to boost their numbers in the Assembly they may have unwittingly opened the floodgates for floor-crossing that could have disastrous long-term consequences.

Sandeep Shastri

Pro-Vice Chancellor, Jain University and a political commentator

Email: sandeep.shastri@jainuniversity.ac.in
By Express News Service

TIRUPATI: In the wake of vitriolic attack on him by Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu has refused to get drawn into a verbal duel with his TS counterpart.

Speaking to media persons in Tirupati on Thursday, Naidu said he never made personal comments or allegations, but only spoke on policies and ideologies. On alliance with the Congress in Telangana, Naidu said it was a political compulsion and to safeguard the interests of the party in Telangana.

He said it was not the first time the TDP had taken the support of the Congress. When we formed the United Front government, which gave two prime ministers, the Congress extended support from outside, he reminded. We have joined hands with the Congress in the larger interests of the party, he asserted. I want to know why I should not fight elections with the help of others when the TRS chief with help of BJP is trying to wipe out the TDP in Telangana.

It was the TDP which was instrumental in the development of Hyderabad and the State as a whole, which even the TRS acknowledges. How can I sit silent, when efforts are being made to remove the party from Telangana, he sought to know.

Naidu made it clear that to counter the BJP at the national level, an alternative was needed and without the Congress, it might not be possible. It is also to safeguard the interest of Telugu people, as the BJP retaining power will not bode well for the State. They have not done anything to keep the promises made to the State and people are no longer confident they will do it if they retain power, he said elaborating the reason for allying with the Congress.

The TDP chief further said BJP did not respect alliance, as was proved when it unceremoniously parted ways with the TDP in Telangana, even as TDP was still part of the government and had an alliance with that party in Andhra Pradesh. How proper was it? he questioned.

Asked on alliance with the Congress in Andhra Pradesh, he was quick to point out that the party was no longer a force to reckon with in the State. The TDP alliance with the Congress should be seen in a national perspective. He lashed out at the BJP and Narendra Modi for betraying people of AP and said it was time to dethrone Modi. Earlier, he said investments in the State would have been more if NDA Government at the Centre had accorded special category status to State.
By Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai has said the party will give full support to believers who are on the path of agitation over the Supreme Court verdict permitting women of all ages to enter Sabarimala temple. Pillai said he met the Pandalam royal family as well as the Sabarimala Tantri family and the party will support the fight of the believers to protect their belief.

The BJP state president also met NSS general secretary G Sukumaran Nair who has already stated the organisation is moving a review petition in the Supreme Court against the verdict. Pillai said, I am meeting SNDP Yogam general secretary Vellappally Natesan. But there wont be a joint struggle. A write-up by R Sanjayan, Bharatheeya Vichara Kendram functionary, hailing SC order has created confusion among cadre. He told Express, It was a presentation. Moreover I am not the official spokesman of the RSS.
Major Nepali and English dailies published from Kathmandu Valley on Friday have given the top priority to different issues. Like on past few days, discussions and decisions of various committees in the Federal Parliament have received significant attention from the newspaper editors. Meanwhile, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli returned home after attended the United Nations General Assemblys 73rd session and paying an official visit to Costa Rica and newspapers have published statements of Oli on their front pages.

The Kathmandu Post lead story reviews activities since then two major partiesCPN-UML and CPN-Maoist Centredecided to unify into the single party around one year ago. Rajdhani and Naya Patrika have published reports about internal politics in the main opposition Nepali Congress.

Important

Minister forces House committee to change decision

Annapurna Post, Nagarik, Kantipur, The Kathmandu Post, Republica and The Himalayan Times report that Minister for Communications and Information Technology Gokul Baskota interfered in discussions of the Development and Technology Committee of the House of Representatives and made the Committee chairperson Kalyani Khadka to change the decision.

While chairperson Khadka was sharing the decision about issuing a directive to the government for the appointment of Nepal Telecoms Managing Director through open competition, Baskota interrupted and forced her to remove the phrase free competition citing it was mentioned in the law, according to Annapurna Post.

Meanwhile, Baskota also expressed dissatisfaction with media and journalists during the meeting, inform Kantipur and Nagarik.

Public Accounts Committee begins probe on sugar price hike

The Public Accounts Committee of Parliament has formed a subcommittee to investigate into a sudden rise in the price of sugar in the market in the run-up to Dashain and Tihar festivals.

Naya Patrika reports that the panel has assigned lawmaker Lekharaj Bhatta to carry out a probe and submit the report. Bhatta has assured that the report will be submitted within next one week.

In the same newspaper, Industry, Commerce and Supplies Minister Matrika Yadav has expressed commitment to cooperate with the probe.

Meanwhile, the Committee directed the government to limit the price within Rs 63 per kilogram, according to Nagarik, Kantipur and The Himalayan Times.

Oli claims he will rule for full term

Upon his arrival back home, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli reiterated that his government would rule for the full term of five years, adding his party would become stronger in the next election and would get another change to lead the country, according to reports in Kantipur, Annapurna Post and Naya Patrika.

In another context, Oli assured that he would address the dissatisfaction raised by his partys senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal within few days, adds Naya Patrika.

Ignored

ADB to provide Rs 21 billion to upgrade East-West Highway

Asian Development Bank has decided to extend a loan assistance of Rs 21 billion to Nepal for the upgrading of East-West Highway, according to Nagarik anchor story.

Nepal has been lobbying with the ADB for the support since a long ago, and a meeting of the board of directors held in Manila on Thursday made the decision, the report informs.

Citizenship law amendment bill drawn into controversy

A bill that the government recently tabled in Parliament for the amendment to existing citizenship law has been drawn into controversy as it has been revealed that Defence Minister Ishwar Pokharel signed on the bill as the Home Minister, reports Nepal Samacharpatra in its lead story.

Citing anonymous sources, the report claims Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa had denied signing the document expressing his objection to some of the provisions.

Supreme Court leaves fate of 1,700 medical students uncertain

Questioning the fairness of entrance exams, the Supreme Court recently ordered the Tribhuvan University Institute of Medicine not to admit 1,736 students who have recently passed the exams for different medical courses. Therefore, their fate has turned uncertain, reports Republica.

Around 15,000 students had appeared in the tests in the third week of September.

Urge to promote govt media

The Kathmandu Post reports in a snippet that government has directed all government entities to prioritise state owned media while distributing information and selling advertisements in order to support and help sustain the government publications.

Radio Nepal, Nepal Television, Gorkhapatra and Rastriya Samachar Samiti will benefit from the recent instruction of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, according to the report.

Interesting

Nepali sugar factories to produce electricity

Nepal Electricity Authority is at the final step of preparations for signing a power purchase agreement with sugar factories of the country to buy the electricity they produce, reports Karobar in a five column story.

The PPA will mention that five per cent of income collected from the sale of electricity will be provided to sugarcane farmers, according to the report.
By Express News Service

PURI: As many as 11 persons were arrested in connection with the arson and violence near Jagannath temple in Puri on Wednesday even as Director General of Police (DGP) Dr RP Sharma told mediapersons on Thursday that those involved in the incident would be prosecuted as per law.

DGP Sharma along with Amitabh Thakur, IG (Law and Order) and Soumendra Priyadarshi, IG (Central) visited Puri to take stock of the situation. They held a closed door meeting with Puri SP Sarthak Sarangi and other senior officers. The DGP is learnt to have directed identification of the accused from CCTV and media footages, gather evidence and arrest them as early as possible.

According to sources, 16 cases have been registered with Lions Gate and Town police stations and 62 accused persons identified so far. Cases have been registered against about 100 persons for arson, loot and attack on police personnel.

Four special police teams have been formed to nab the accused who include street vendors, criminals and some servitors. Additional police force from Bhubaneswar have arrived for the purpose.Sources said more complaints are likely to be lodged by the temple administration soon while estimation of the loss due to violence was under process. The temples Chief Administrator PK Mahapatra said he would send CCTV footage and video clippings of the arson along with a report to the amicus curiae Gopal Subramanium in a couple of days. The amicus curiae had sought a report from him in this regard.

Meanwhile, the temple administration has modified entry facility for locals after a peace committee meeting. As per new arrangements, locals can enter temple through all four gates after showing their Aadhaar card in support of their claim as local residents. Meanwhile, devotees from outside visited the temple in the queue without any hassles on the day.
By Express News Service

SAMBALPUR: The students of Sambalpur University vacated their hostels on Thursday after university syndicate declared the institution closed sine die. The sine die was declared on Wednesday evening following the student unrest after attack on Assistant Professor Rajat Kujur by three students on September 24.

The university authorities had asked the students to vacate the hostels by 9 am on Thursday and assured to support them. The university provided buses to drop the students at railway station and bus stand for their onward journey.

However, many students are unhappy with the closure decision. A boarder of Bhagirathi hostel, Soumya Sankalp Panda, said the students are made to suffer due to failure of the university authorities to deal with petty issues. The situation was not so serious on the university campus. The declaration of sine die will affect studies, he said.

The university campus had been witnessing perpetual student unrest after the attack on Kujur. Even the university syndicate had cancelled the students union election for 2018-19 on October 1 over the reason.

On Wednesday, a group of students staged dharna in front of the administrative block demanding that the three students, who attacked Kujur, be rusticated while another group demanded holding of students union poll. Subsequently, the university syndicate declared sine die.

Vice-Chancellor Deepak Behera said the university would have been closed from October 11 for Dussehra vacation. However, they closed the university seven days before, which includes two holidays, he said. The university will open after the vacation, he added.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Amidst high political drama on Friday, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam said that he had met TTV Dhinakaran to save the party and not for any personal gain.

Earlier in the day, Dhinakaran said Panneerselvam met him in July last year and he was desperate to become CM again. Paneerselvam dismissed his allegations during a crowded press meet at his Greenways Road residence, flanked by AIADMK presidium chairman E Madhusudanan, Ministers RB Udhayakumar, Kadambur Raju and K Pandiarajan.

I met TTV Dhinakaran on July 12 last year not out of my own interest but only on the repeated requests from Dhinakaran through a common friend. My intention was to save the AIADMK and the government which faced trouble then. But I returned with disappointment as Dhinakaran did not show any reformation but was keen on becoming Chief Minister.

When Dhinakaran was parading 36 MLAs and challenged that he would topple the government, I thought the party and government should be saved. But during the meeting, it was clear that Dhinakaran stood his ground and spoke with an intention of becoming CM after removing Edappadi K Palaniswami. he said.

Panneerselvam also said that when he refused to meet Dhinakaran, saying he was leading a dharma yudh against that family (Sasikala family), the common friend, who arranged the meeting, assured that Dhinakaran had given up his old stand and was about to quit politics. The friend asked me to take a decision after listening to Dhinakaran. Only after that, I met Dhinakaran. But after the merger of both factions in August, there has been no contact with Dhinakaran, he added.

READ HERE | TTV Dhinakaran claims OPS wanted to meet him to oust Tamil Nadu CM, AIADMK rejects charge

The friend, who had arranged the meeting, met Panneerselvam on Friday morning and regretted that he had made a big mistake by arranging the meeting. I never expected that Dhinakaran would engage in such cheap politics. I met him with good intention - to save the party and government. But now understood what kind of person he is, Panneerselvam added.

The Deputy CM also charged that Dhinakaran was levelling false allegations only to malign his image and to create confusion among the public besides to embarrass the party and government.

Responding to a question, Panneerselvam shot back: Why should I topple this government where I am the Deputy CM? I held the CM post three times and that is enough. I hail from a good family and I will never try to become CM by toppling a government.

Answering another question, he said, Ministers have told me that seven of the disqualified MLAs had approached the ruling party, saying they did not like the attitude of Dhinakaran.

Earlier in the day, AIADMK deputy coordinators KP Munusamy and R Vaithilingam had expressed hope that Panneerselvam would not have met Dhinakaran and that the latter was trying to create confusion among party cadre.

Minister for Electricity P Thangamani said Indeed, Dhinakaran had sent feelers to the AIADMK to merge his party. Since there was no green signal for that, now he is making false allegations.
By Express News Service

MADURAI: Taking a veiled dig at TTV Dhinakaran, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said that the Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) founders tactics would fail to have any effect on the voters in Thiruparankundram, which is gearing up for a by-election. The chief minister said that the electorate was intelligent and would help AIADMK bag the seat.

Palaniswami and O Panneerselvam were here on Thursday to participate in a consultative meeting with party functionaries and cadre ahead of Thiruparankundram by-election. Several ministers, including Revenue Minister R B Udayakumar and Minister for Cooperation Sellur K Raju, participated in the meeting.

After the consultative meeting, Palaniswami and Panneerselvam addressed the media persons. When asked about supporters of Dhinakaran claiming to emerge victorious in the by-elections at Thiruparankundram and Tiruvarur constituencies, Palaniswami said that Panneerselvam had earlier mentioned how TTV had won RK Nagar seat by duping people.

People of Thiruparankundram are intelligent and would make an intelligent decision. AIADMK won the Thiruparankundram seat eight times. The people here believe in AIADMK and will vote for us, noted Palaniswami.

Panneerselvam said that AIADMK would win with a margin of over 50,000 votes whenever the election is conducted in Thiruparankundram constituency, which is AIADMK bastion. He noted that all party cadre, functionaries and supporters have resolved to defeat the Opposition.

Asked about the precautionary measures taken up by the meteorological department ahead of October 7 red alert, Palaniswami said that the government had an effective plan in place and was taking steps after conducting three consultative meetings with the higher officials. Speaking about AIIMS, Palaniswami said that he was also going to meet Modi to insist on the expedited establishment of the institute.
By Associated Press

WASHINGTON: "This is what democracy looks like!" protesters shouted outside the Supreme Court, voicing their opposition to Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the high court but somehow speaking for everyone on every side on a day of passion, chaos and consequence.

Democracy on Thursday looked like:

 Senators scurrying AWAY from the cameras, not their natural state.

 Sexual assault victims pouring out their stories in the halls of the Capitol and from the steps of the high court across the street.

In this Feb. 14, 2017, photo, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., testifies in front of the Senate Banking Committee in Washington. Heitkamp, one of the few Democratic senators who'd been undecided on the Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, tells a television station she will vote against Kavanaugh. (Photo | AP)

 "Confirm Brett!" cries from members of "Women for Kavanaugh" outside the office of Sen. Jeff Flake, one of three Republicans and perhaps one wavering Democrat who will determine whether the judge accused of sexual misconduct will become a justice.

 "We believe Christine Ford" banners, unfurled at a Senate office building where police began arresting hundreds of protesters staging a sit-in. Capitol Police eventually arrested more than 300 people, including comedian and actress Amy Schumer.

 Partisan characterizations of the FBI report on the accusations against Kavanaugh, so at odds that the casual observer could not hope to divine the truth from listening to them.

ALSO READ | 'I am independent, impartial': US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh

"Whitewash," steamed Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. "A check-the-box scam."

Countered Maine's Republican Sen. Susan Collins, a crucial unknown vote: "It appears to be a very thorough investigation."

Walking to the Capitol, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein was approached by a woman who thanked her for her work on the investigation and told the senator she's a multiple rape survivor. Feinstein shook her hand, then put her own hand on the woman's cheek. The woman started crying, and simply said, "Thank you, thank you."

A round of Senate voting is expected Friday, with the final vote likely Saturday.

It had been a smooth process by Washington's bumpy standards until Christine Blasey Ford, then other women, came forward with their accusations, setting up an epic hearing last week centered on Ford's pained recounting of her allegation and Kavanaugh's blistering denials. Flake, a retiring senator and frequent thorn in the side of President Donald Trump, achieved a delay long enough for the FBI to reopen its background investigation of the nominee.

Terry Swann protests against U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh outside the office of U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018, in Phoenix. (Photo | AP)

The pitched struggle over Kavanaugh reflects the stakes. At 53, he is likely to serve on the court for decades if confirmed. In the short term he could provide the decisive fifth vote for a conservative majority on the nine-member court.

On the hot seat, some senators have been using police escorts in recent days to shield them from protesters and the media. The stepped-up police presence comes as senators  especially Republicans  have expressed unease over protesters who have confronted them at their Senate offices, restaurants, airports and even their homes. Personal information about some lawmakers also has been released online.

ALSO READ | FBI found 'no hint of misconduct' by Brett Kavanaugh: Top Republican senator

A few women who identified themselves as sexual assault survivors approached Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah on Thursday and asked why he's backing Kavanaugh. Hatch waved and told them to "grow up" as he entered an elevator surrounded by aides. As the women yelled at him from the hallway, Hatch smiled and waved.

Late in the day, with Collins praising the reach of the brief FBI investigation and Flake indicating he had seen nothing incriminating in the results, the pro-Kavanaugh forces appeared closer to the prize.

But anger and frustration knew no party on the eve of expected voting.

"This is almost rock bottom," said Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the Republican who presided over last week's hearing as chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

It was a day when you could not tell who was winning by watching them.
By AFP

SOUTHAVEN: Donald Trump closed his speech with a lofty call against fear and division in next month's midterm elections -- having just spent an hour stirring exactly that.

Like an angry rock star, Trump whipped up the crowd of more than 10,000 in Southaven, Mississippi this week with warnings that a Democratic retaking of Congress on November 6 will lead, pretty much, to the United States' collapse.

Democrats will "plunge our country into chaos," he told the southern Republicans.

Democrats will end border controls. They'll invite in "deadly drugs and ruthless gangs." They'll destroy savings accounts and "turn America into Venezuela."

The apocalyptic warnings -- each time drawing a massive, synchronized "boo" from the almost uniformly white crowd -- were a master class in sowing division.

Donald Trump. (Photo | Twitter)

Trump has been repeating that message relentlessly in MAGA, or "Make America Great Again," rallies around the country ahead of the midterms.

And in Mississippi, his audience was mesmerized.

"A vote for Republicans is a vote to reject the Democrat politics of anger, destruction, chaos, and to come together as neighbors, as citizens, as Americans," Trump told the arena.

In fact, what the crowd had come for was to express that very same anger -- the anger fueling Trump's self-declared mission "to save America from socialism, to save America from decay."

One man in a cowboy hat and T-shirt from the NRA gun lobby group listened with both hands held aloft, as if in rapture at a Pentecostal prayer service.

Bogeymen

Foreigners and even many Americans struggle to understand the appeal of a president who has disrupted everything from international alliances to social niceties in a nearly two-year populist and nationalist tornado.

But the billionaire real estate magnate clearly knows his working class voters, tapping into their red-blooded patriotism and responding to grievances over what they see as a liberal-left assault on traditional white values, jobs and identity.

ALSO READ | Key lawmakers rebuke US President Donald Trump for mocking Brett Kavanaugh accuser

In Mississippi, he ran through an ever-growing litany of right-wing bogeymen, prompting theatrical choruses of boos and hisses from around the arena -- not that any prompt was needed.

"There's a group called globalists," he said in a kind of conspiratorial whisper. "Boo!"

"Fake news," "dishonest" journalists. "Boo!"

Fiercest derision was reserved for Democratic senators trying to stop Supreme Court confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh, a distinguished conservative judge, over allegations that he sexually assaulted a fellow teen while a schoolboy.

Trump had previously toed a relatively nuanced line, insisting on support for his nominee, while accepting that the accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, gave "credible" and moving testimony of the alleged assault in a Senate hearing.

This time, he ditched the presidential demeanor, mocking the California professor for not being able to remember important details surrounding the alleged assault -- even if her description of the attack itself was searingly specific.

Over and over, he goaded the woman, speaking darkly of a time when unsubstantiated rape allegations will ruin the lives of men everywhere.

The crowd clapped and cheered.

Thank you Minnesota - I love you!https://t.co/eQC2NqdIil  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 5 October 2018

Savior

Opponents rarely take into account that Trump can be genuinely funny, going off script with impromptu, self-deprecating jokes about his ego.

At an event with electrical engineers in Philadelphia, also this week, he wondered whether a hard hat given to him by the union would mess up his famously intricate blond hair.

"Am I having a good hair day?" the possibly most powerful man in the world mused to laughter.

But even the humor serves mainly to remind everyone that Trump and Trump alone matters.

As he told supporters all this week, the big reason Republican legislators are in trouble at the midterms is that he's not on the ballot.

"They say if I was on the ticket, everybody would vote and it would be a landslide," he claimed in Mississippi.

And while he'd come to Southaven ostensibly to speak on behalf of a local Republican Senate candidate, he made clear that the real motive was his own reelection in two years.

"2020 is looking really easy," he said in the opening line of his speech.

Passionate supporters are unlikely to disagree.

"God, we thank you for Donald Trump," a preacher said in a mass prayer just before the president stepped through blue curtains.

"Amen," the crowd boomed, then chanted: "USA, USA."
By Associated Press

BUENOS AIRES: Argentina's highest criminal court acquitted former President Carlos Menem of smuggling arms shipments to Ecuador and Croatia in the 1990s when both countries were involved in armed conflicts, overturning a 2013 conviction.

Menem, now 88, had been sentenced by a lower court to seven years in prison for "aggravated smuggling" as the co-author of shipments of more than 6,000 tons of military weapons, which he authorized to go to Venezuela and Panama but ended up in Ecuador and Croatia.

At the time, Argentina was barred from supplying Ecuador with weapons since it had a peacekeeping role after Ecuador and Peru fought a brief war in 1995.

Croatia was under a U.N. arms embargo as war ravaged the former Yugoslavia.

Menem has denied the charges, saying he thought the arms were headed to Panama and Venezuela.

As a senator in his home province of La Rioja, he has immunity from arrest.

He appealed the 2013 conviction to the Supreme Court, which passed it to the Federal Chamber of Criminal Cassation.

On Thursday, the criminal court annulled the judgment because it considered that the "reasonable time" principle to finalize the sentence had not been met.

The smuggling of mortars, land mines, grenades, rockets and missiles took place between 1991 and 1995.

"Everything passes and this has passed. I love you, old man," Menem's daughter Zulemita wrote.

Others rejected the ruling.

"The same judicial branch that processed the case for 22 years without a firm sentence, now declares Menem innocent because too much time has passed," said lawmaker Graciela Ocana, adding that ruling guaranteed "impunity."

Menem, who governed Argentina from 1989 to 1999, was sentenced to four years in prison in 2015 for embezzlement.

He did not go to prison for that conviction either because he is a sitting senator.
By AFP

COLOMBEY-LES-DEUX-EGLISES: France's President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday urged his compatriots to moan less, saying the country would be better off if they emulated wartime leader Charles de Gaulle.

Macron -- on a visit to the northeastern village of Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises, known as the home and burial place of the former president -- made his comments after speaking to a pensioner who complained he only had a small pension.

"The grandson of the general (Charles de Gaulle) told me a little while ago" that his grandfather's rule was: "You can speak freely, the only thing we should not do is to complain."

"I think that the general had the right idea. The country would be different if everyone did the same," Macron said.

"We don't realise how lucky we are. We are seeing more and more elderly people in our country in good health," he added.

Reacting on Twitter, leader of France's far-right National Rally -- formerly the National Front -- Marine Le Pen, wrote: "Those who complain don't do it just for the fun of it but because they are the victims of non-stop tax rises and endemic insecurity."

Marcon's comments came a week after the government unveiled billions of euros in tax relief for businesses and households, alongside more budget cuts.

Pensions and welfare benefits will be shaved further in the 2019 budget -- Macron complained in June that France spends "a crazy amount of dough" on social programmes.

In August, he also came under attack from the opposition after he described the French as "Gauls who are resistant to change" during a trip to Denmark.

Macron made the comments in an exchange with French expatriates in the Scandinavian country, which he admires for its economic model that mixes a strong social security system with rules allowing companies to easily fire workers.
By PTI

GENEVA: The UN slammed Friday India's deportation of seven Rohingya men to Myanmar despite warnings they could face persecution in a country where the military is accused of genocide against the Muslim minority.

The UN refugee agency said it was "greatly concerned" for the safety and security of the seven men who were returned to Myanmar from India on Thursday.

The men, who had been in detention for immigration offences since 2012, were handed over to Myanmar authorities at a border crossing in India's northeast state of Manipur.

ALSO READ | India deports 7 Rohingya immigrants to Myanmar in its first such action against the community

Before their deportation, the UN had voiced concern that returning the men ignored the danger they faced in Myanmar, where for decades the Rohingya have been targeted in violent pogroms by security forces.

UNHCR voiced concern that the Indian authorities had not responded to its request that they assess the men's claims to international refugee protection in the country.

"UNHCR regrets that the agency did not receive a response to this request and was unable to secure access for a lawyer from a state legal service," agency spokesman Andrej Mahecic told reporters in Geneva.

"UNHCR continues to seek clarifications from the authorities on the circumstances under which these individuals were returned to Myanmar," he said.

He said the UN agency was "concerned that they did not have access to legal counsel, were not given the chance to access asylum processing and have their claims assessed in India.

" The UN special rapporteur on racism, Tendayi Achiume, warned India on Tuesday that it risked breaking international laws on refoulement -- the return of refugees or asylum seekers to a country where they could be harmed.

The Rohingya are despised by many in Buddhist-majority Myanmar, which refuses to recognise them as citizens and falsely labels them "Bengali" illegal immigrants.

They were concentrated in Rakhine state, the epicentre of a Myanmar army offensive that over the past year has driven some 720,000 Rohingya Muslims into Bangladesh.

Myanmar's army has denied nearly all wrongdoing, insisting its campaign was justified to root out Rohingya insurgents.

But a UN fact-finding mission said there was enough evidence to merit prosecution of several top Myanmar military commanders for crimes against humanity and genocide against Rohingya civilians.

New Delhi considers the Rohingya a security threat, pointing to intelligence which it says links the minority group to extremist organisations.

ALSO READ | US documents systematic killings, sexual violence against Myanmar Rohingya

The government had ordered last year that all Rohingya inside India -- New Delhi puts the figure at 40,000 -- be deported.

The Supreme Court is considering a petition challenging the order as unconstitutional.

The UNHCR said Friday there are 18,000 Rohingya refugees and asylum seekers registered with the agency in India.
By AFP

WASHINGTON: The US Senate on Friday narrowly approved moving to a final vote on President Donald Trump's embattled Supreme Court pick Brett Kavanaugh, but his fate remained in the balance as key lawmakers appeared still undecided.

The Senate voted 51-49 to advance the nomination of the conservative jurist, who has faced allegations of sexual misconduct dating back to his teenage years, in the procedural cloture vote, setting up a final showdown on Saturday.

But the outcome remains uncertain after one Republican, Lisa Murkowski, defied her party and voted against moving ahead, while Democrat Joe Manchin cast his ballot in favour.

Republican Senator Susan Collins still appeared undecided, supporting the cloture vote but saying she would reveal her position on Kavanaugh, 53, on Friday afternoon.

President Donald Trump cheered the result of the cloture vote, which puts him a key step closer to a major political victory for conservatives.

"Very proud of the US Senate for voting 'YES' to advance the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh!" Trump tweeted.

Except for Murkowski and Manchin, the vote proceeded along party lines. To gain final approval Republicans can afford only one more defection in Saturday's test.

If he wins confirmation, Kavanaugh -- who has faced a bruising process which raised questions over his candour and partisan rhetoric, and his lifestyle as a young man -- will seal a conservative majority on the nine-seat high court for years to come.

Trump took the brutal battle to a new stage earlier Friday when he dismissed female anti-Kavanaugh protesters who have cited their own experiences of sexual assault as "elevator screamers."

The president claimed billionaire financier George Soros, a frequent target of conservatives, was behind their demonstrations.

"The very rude elevator screamers are paid professionals only looking to make Senators look bad. Don't fall for it!" he said on Twitter.

Republicans continued to reject sexual assault and abuse allegations against Kavanaugh from three women when they were students in the 1980s, and dismiss charges from Democrats that Kavanaugh repeatedly lied in Senate testimony about his background.

Gripping political battle

The confirmation process has gripped Washington and the nation, aggravating already deep political divisions with just weeks to go before mid-term congressional elections.

Among those closely watched is Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, a frequent Trump critic who is not running for re-election and has expressed concern about Kavanaugh.

On Friday he voted to advance the nominee, then told an NBC reporter that "unless something big changes," he will vote yes on Kavanaugh's confirmation.

With Murkowski, the Republican who voted against cloture, telling reporters that Kavanaugh is a "good man" who perhaps is "not the right man for the court at this time," that left all eyes on Republican Collins and Democrat Manchin.

Collins is expected to announce her decision on the Senate floor after 3:00 pm (1900 GMT).

If she is a yes, that gives Manchin political cover to do the same and not be the deciding vote.

Manchin faces extraordinary political pressure. He is up for re-election in West Virginia, a state Trump won overwhelmingly in 2016.

On the Senate floor, he waited until Flake, Collins and Murkowski had voted, then flashed a thumbs-up for his yes vote before sitting down by himself.

Another wrinkle about Saturday's vote: Republican Senator Steve Daines was to fly home Friday to Montana for his daughter's wedding, raising the prospect of Republicans losing a potentially vital yes vote.

But Daines said he spoke with Kavanaugh personally and assured him that "I will be back to vote yes this weekend if needed."

Kavanaugh made a last-minute pitch for support in a Wall Street Journal op-ed headlined "I am an independent, impartial judge," virtually unheard-of campaigning for a nominee to the high court.

Protesters returned outside the Capitol Friday morning, a day after 302 were arrested and charged with unlawfully demonstrating inside the Senate complex.

'No to mob rule'

Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley took to the Senate floor to accuse unnamed "left-wing dark money groups" of engineering an alleged Democratic political plot to defeat Kavanaugh.

"The resistance that has existed since the day after the 2016 election is centred right here on Capitol Hill," he said. "I hope we can say no to mob rule by voting to confirm Judge Kavanaugh."

Trump's reference to Soros, who has supported pro-democracy movements around the world and the US Democratic Party for years, appeared to aim at inciting more support and anger from the president's conservative Christian base.

The Jewish billionaire is frequently described by arch-conservatives as a behind-the-scenes operator driving liberal and progressive movements -- criticisms that have raised counter-accusations of anti-Semitism.

But Democrats continued Friday to argue that there had been too little effort made to investigate the allegations against Kavanaugh -- especially that of Christine Blasey Ford, who says a drunken Kavanaugh tried to rape her in 1982.

On Thursday the FBI released summary results of a six-day, last-minute review of the allegations, which Kavanaugh's Senate backers said found no corroborating evidence
Kathmandu, October 5

The first meeting of the Nepal-Canada Bilateral Consultation Mechanism held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday has agreed to promote the issues of mutual interests.

The meeting has agreed to intensify discussion in the areas of trade, investment, tourism, agriculture, immigration, education, climate change and technology transfer in a regular manner.

According to the ministry, the development priorities of the country were presented in the meeting.

On the occasion, the Canadian side expressed readiness to advance economic cooperation with Nepal and assist Nepal in its development efforts.

Recalling the meeting between the prime ministers of two countries on the sidelines of the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly, the meeting has also agreed to have routine consultations at different levels to further consolidate the bilateral relations between Nepal and Canada.
By AFP

WASHINGTON: The US Senate on Thursday stepped closer to a weekend confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh but angry protesters converged on Capitol Hill demanding his withdrawal over sex assault allegations.

While Republicans confidently declared that a week-long FBI investigation found nothing to corroborate the allegations against President Donald Trump's court pick, opposition Democrats assailed the latest FBI probe as "incomplete" and constrained by a White House determined to push through the lifetime appointment of the conservative 53-year-old judge.

Furor over Kavanaugh's nomination has overshadowed next month's midterm elections in which control of Congress by Trump's Republican Party could be at stake.

A sea of women, thousands of protesters, marched on the Supreme Court and many infiltrated Senate office buildings to hold loud sit-in protests against the judge. Some held signs calling Kavanaugh a liar and "unfit" to serve.

"I believe Dr Ford, and I believe Kavanaugh is part of a Big Old Boys club that is going to protect him no matter what," said Angela Trzepkowski, 55, from Delaware.

With the FBI report apparently favorable to Kavanaugh, two of the three Republican lawmakers undecided on the nominee boosted his confirmation chances by signalling they believed the FBI had done a thorough probe.

"This investigation found no hint of misconduct," Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley said in a statement. "There's nothing in it that we didn't already know."

Grassley said the full Senate should vote Saturday on Kavanaugh's nomination -- an appointment that could shift the nine-member panel to the right for decades to come.

"Hopefully we're 48 hours away from having a new person on the Supreme Court," he told reporters.

The Senate, where Republicans hold a slim 51-49 majority, will first hold a procedural vote Friday.

All eyes are on the key Republicans who could make or break the nomination -- Jeff Flake of Arizona, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Speaking to reporters after reviewing the FBI report, Collins said it "appears to be a very thorough investigation."

Flake, a vocal Trump critic who pushed the White House into giving the FBI an additional week to look into the accusations against Kavanaugh, signalled his apparent satisfaction, saying the report contained "no additional corroborating information."

The top Senate Judiciary Democrat, Dianne Feinstein, said the report appeared insufficient to lay to rest concerns about Kavanaugh.

"It looks to be a product of an incomplete investigation that was limited perhaps by the White House, I don't know," Feinstein told reporters.

"We had many fears that this was a very limited process," added Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. "Those fears have been realized."

California university professor Christine Blasey Ford testified last week that Kavanaugh groped her and attempted to take her clothes off in what she believed was a rape attempt when they were teenagers decades ago.

Kavanaugh has vehemently denied the allegations.

"These uncorroborated accusations have been unequivocally and repeatedly rejected by Judge Kavanaugh, and neither the Judiciary Committee nor the FBI could locate any third parties who can attest to any of the allegations," Grassley said.

"It's time to vote," he said.

'Partisan histrionics'

Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, urged an end to what he called "partisan histrionics" and called for a vote on Kavanaugh's nomination.

"This process has been ruled by fear and anger and underhanded gamesmanship for too long," McConnell said on the Senate floor.

Trump said the FBI report exonerated Kavanaugh, and he expressed optimism about Republican chances in the November midterm elections.

Experts are split about whether the Kavanaugh uproar will fuel Republican or Democratic turnout, but Trump insisted that the "harsh and unfair" treatment of Kavanaugh by Democrats is having "an incredible upward impact on voters."

Trump nominated Kavanaugh to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who had been a swing vote on a panel now equally divided between four conservative and four liberal justices.

Republicans like Senator Lindsey Graham left the secure room, where they studied the FBI report, to declare they were even more confident now that "no corroboration" of the allegations was found.

But several Democrats lit into the process, with Senator Ron Wyden branding it a "whitewash" and Senator Mazie Hirono wincing at Republican claims of comprehensiveness.

"There are dozens of people out there that they could have questioned," Hirono told AFP.

Blasey Ford testified last week that Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a house party in the early 1980s while they were in high school.

Kavanaugh, in a fiery response which critics branded partisan, rejected the allegations and further misconduct claims against him from two other women.

In the new background probe, the FBI contacted 10 people to interview, Republicans said.

They include three people Blasey Ford says were in the house at the time of the party. One is Mark Judge, who the professor says was in the room when Kavanaugh lay on top of her, ground his body against hers and covered her mouth to keep her from screaming.

On Wednesday, the three Republican senators key to Kavanaugh's approval blasted Trump for mocking Blasey Ford's memory lapses at a political rally.

As they mulled Kavanaugh, a Democrat up for re-election in a state which traditionally votes Republican came out against the nominee.

"After doing my due diligence and now that the record is apparently closed, I will vote against his confirmation," Senator Heidi Heitkamp said Thursday.
By Online Desk

US President Donald Trump boarded Air Force One on Thursday with a bit of what appeared to be toilet paper stuck to his left shoe.

WATCH: President Trump boards Air Force One with what appears to be toilet paper stuck to his shoe pic.twitter.com/A0AEYXXlXq  Joel Franco (@OfficialJoelF) October 5, 2018

Trump was leaving Minneapolis after a fundraising appearance, and boarding the plane to a rally in Minnesota, when the toilet paper sheet decided to make an appearance.

The video has created quite an uproar on Twitter, with many wondering out loud why nobody told the President about the toilet paper that refused to dislodge itself until he entered the aircraft.

Take a look at some of the hilarious responses inspired by the viral video:

The jokes just write themselves.  Darlene Langley (@rufusdrl) October 5, 2018

That means there is not a single person who cares about him enough to tell him he had toilet paper stuck to his shoe from whatever bathroom he was in all the way to the plane https://t.co/87Xz1rrxXQ  rabia O'chaudry (@rabiasquared) October 5, 2018

Guy clearly has no friends. https://t.co/PG1JUqsLme  Luke Barnett (@LukeBarnett) October 5, 2018

Needless to say best not to know what is keeping it attached.  Sharon Harris (@SharonBarrynews) October 5, 2018

Thank you for the one laugh Ive had today.  Suzy Byrne (@SuzyByrne) October 5, 2018

Hey, you have some trash stuck to you! (Talking to the toilet paper)  Joyce Wagner (@JoyceWagner) October 5, 2018

the fact that no one told him anything shows how tired people are of his shit  Elizabeth Casuso (@rulivingg) October 5, 2018
By AFP

WASHINGTON: The head of the World Trade Organization talks frequently to world leaders, including those from France, Germany, Japan and Britain, but he has never spoken to President Donald Trump, despite the intense US focus on trade.

Even so, WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo said he agrees that the global trading system needs reforms, and soon.

But in an interview on the Freakonomics radio podcast released Thursday, he cautioned against blithe predictions that the exchange of punitive tariffs among major trading powers will not hit their economies.

Trump has relentlessly pursued a confrontational trade policy, including harsh tariffs on steel and aluminum, and on USD 250 billion in annual imports from China, nearly half the total from that country.

He has also accused the WTO of treating the United States unfairly.

Washington has blocked the global trade body from establishing panels to settle disputes between members.

But asked if he had ever been able to discuss the issues with Trump, Azevedo said, "Not directly, no."

This is unusual since "an action that is taken by the United States has repercussions everywhere across the world.

" Azevedo said "there is a lot of sympathy for some things that are said on the part of the United States," including on the overcapacity in steel and the need for better protections for technology and patents -- the issue at the heart of the US attacks on China.

However, he explained that the vast majority of job losses that have driven some of the anti-trade sentiment are actually caused by technology rather than imports.

But "for governments and for politicians, it is easier to blame, you know, the foreign for these problems which are happening inside their own economies."

But leaders are finally realizing that "unless we address this, these kinds of tensions that we see today in terms of trade are only going to increase."

"We have to fix this situation as soon as we can," he said, or the WTO dispute settlement system will collapse.

And he cautioned that the trade tensions would eventually hit the real economy.

"It's amazing that I still hear people say, 'Oh, but the economy is great.

' Of course it's great! It hasn't been affected yet!" Azevedo said.

He said tariffs and other policies must first go through "an incubation period," while politicians are looking at the very short term electoral cycle.

Many economists and the Federal Reserve say the tariffs could impact economic growth and prices but economic data do not yet reflect this.

Adam Posen, head of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said economists did not yet have a good model for calculating the potential hit from a trade war.

"It's bad but we don't know how bad," he said at a forum in Washington on Thursday.
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Cloudy with gusty winds. High 39F. Winds WNW at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy. Low around 25F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph.
Reporter

Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk).
Kathmandu, October 5

The main opposition party Nepali Congress on Friday has postponed its Central Working Committee meeting scheduled for today.

The partys Central Office Chief Secretary Krishna Prasad Paudel says the meeting will take place at 1 pm on Monday, at the central office in Sanepa of Lalitpur.

The meeting has been postponed due to a special reason, Paudel informs without divulging the details.

The meeting was called to discuss and form the partys official opinions on contemporary political issues. Likewise, it was also expected to hold a discussion on proposed amendments to the partys statute.

The party is scheduled to hold a mahasamiti meeting in November in order to revise its organisational structure and statute in line with the countrys federal structure.
Reporter/Columnist

Julie Wurth is a reporter covering the University of Illinois at The News-Gazette. Her email is jwurth@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@jawurth).
Researchers in Nepal used drone images to survey critically endangered gharial crocodiles along the banks of the Babai River, comparing their results to those of multi-team ground surveys.

Analysis of the drone images produced counts of gharials and mugger crocodiles similar to those of ground survey teams, in less time and at a lower cost.

The researchers stressed the importance of conducting aerial surveys when environmental conditions are most conducive, such as during the winter months when water clarity in the Babai River enables counts of gharials just under the waters surface.

The survey looked easy on paper. All they had to do was to go the Babai Valley in western Nepal and fly a drone (or unmanned aerial vehicle, UAV) along a river. But wildlife researchers Gokarna Jung Thapa, Eric Wikramanayake and Suraj Karki soon realized that their work was fraught with elephantine challenges.

Our mission was to fly a drone over the Babai and take photos of gharials (Gavialis gangeticus) basking on the banks of the river, said Thapa, who along with his team visited the valley in January last year. The wild elephants did not like the idea.

Our vehicle was chased by a herd of wild elephants, he said. We had to speed uphill and request a truck-load of soldiers to rescue us that day. Despite the rescue call, the resources Thapa and his team members used on their mission to count gharials were minimal compared to similar missions in the past.

In the past, enumerators, in around five groups of five, would walk long distances on the banks of the Babai to count this critically endangered species, Thapa recalled. We had to pay for not only their training, but also for their travel and accommodation. But now, we have shown that a three-member member team can carry out the field work with the help of a drone.

It all began in early 2017 when Thapa, who works for WWF-Nepal, was looking for ways to put to use an FPV Raptor drone procured by his office. The drone was initially bought to assist army units patrolling the national parks. However, due to frequent change in personnel and lack of adequate training, the drone was not being put to optimum use. That was when I came up with the idea to count gharials using the drone, Thapa said.

There were three reasons why Thapa and his colleagues selected the species. First, the gharials are critically endangeredthey are limited to Nepal and India and less than 200 breeding adults survive in the wild mainly due to rampant fishing, changes in river flow and increase in poaching, Thapa said. Second, they are sedentary and like to bask in the sun.

The third reason they liked the idea of a drone survey was that gharials form long lines along the banks of the river. This forced enumerators in earlier counts to cover long distances, but if they went too close, the animals would retreat into the water.

The researchers knew they could not just walk in with their drone any time of the year. Researcher Kanchan Thapa, a co-author of the paper, says that for a species like the freshwater gharials, winter (January and February) is the best time to conduct aerial surveys. This is the time when the water in the river is less turbid and gharials swimming above or below around 1 meter from the surface of the water can also be counted, said Kanchan Thapa. We chose mornings (08001100) and evenings (15001700) to capture the photographs, as these are the basking times for crocodiles, he explained.

The researchers flew the drone at a speed of 1012 meters (3339 feet) per second, along 12 pre-designed missions for 2.72 hours of flight time covering a total of 102 kilometers (63 miles) of riverbank habitat along the Babai, which flows through the Bardia National Park. The camera on board the drone took 11,799 photographs covering an effective surface area of 8.2 square kilometers (3.2 square miles) of the river bank.

With drones flying at an altitude of 80m [262 ft], the gharials didnt even notice that they were being photographed, Gokarna Jung Thapa said.

The trio could get so engrossed in the aerial survey that they often lost track of what was going on in their surroundings. When we carry out gharial counts, we generally have groups of enumerators working together, Gokarna Jung Thapa said. When animals see a group of people, they try to stay away. But when they see only a few people, they dont hesitate to attack.

This was one of the main challenges of the fieldwork. However, the area they were surveying lies inside a valley, so they could not fly the drone from a higher altitude, where there is less risk of wild animals.

If we flew the drone from a higher altitude, there was a risk that it would get entangled in the bushes and we would also lose sight of it, Gokarna Jung Thapa said. The telemetry range of the drone is also limited.

The other problem we faced was when landing the UAV, he added. We found out that it is ideal to land the drone on grass, but there were times when we had to land it on the sand, and it took a toll on its wings. We also found out that fixed-wing UAVs like the ones we used were suitable for longer missions like ours, and the quadcopters were more suitable for shorter missions to observe a small number of animals.

Once their fieldwork finished at the end of February, they began to analyze the images. This was the most difficult part of the whole endeavor, said Kanchan Thapa. Gokarna Jung Thapa and his team assembled the photographs and carefully searched for the presence of gharials and mugger crocodiles (Crocodylus palustris), a species that shares its habitat with gharials. They selected 7,708 photographs (66 percent) of the 11,799 for stitching.

The shape and length of the snout is a feature that can used to differentiate between gharials and muggers. Gharials have a long and slender snout, while muggers have a short snout, said Gokarna Jung Thapa. Because the whole idea of the endeavor was to verify already available census data, we focused only on gharials, as muggers have not been counted in the recent past.

As they flew the UAV at an altitude of 80m, the researchers could not only count the number of gharials and muggers, it could also distinguish between the sexes. We could have also estimated the approximate age of each individual gharial, but that was beyond the scope of our project, said Gokarna Jung Thapa.

The images approved by the analysts were then screened using counting software (Dynamic Venture, Inc.). Three image analysts then separately searched for crocodilians in each of the stitched photographs. Collectively, there was consensus with a total of 64 crocodiles counted (33 gharials and 31 muggers), irrespective of age groups, and they were found spatially distributed in clusters along the Babai river bank, wrote the authors in their paper.

We compared the UAV-derived count data with data from three replications collected from conventional gharial surveys conducted in 2016. We also compared the gharial count data with data collected over multiple temporal surveys carried out in the winter season at different time frames employing visual encounter surveys, said the authors. The figures were found to be similar.

Gokarna Jung Thapa is content that the study has shown that UAVs can be used to count freshwater species such as gharials. Kanchan Thapa believes that the same methodology could be used to count and monitor the endangered greater one-horned rhinos and other species that move slowly in the wild.

Our objective was to show it could be done, and we achieved it, Gokarna Jung Thapa said. We are now in touch with companies working on AI to speed up image processing and are also looking for thermal cameras to make the count more accurate, he added. With UAV counts, regular and periodic monitoring of endangered species is possible, and this enables us to carry out conservation interventions with as little lag time as possible.

Gokarna Jung Thapa said he wants to conduct a similar count in Chitwan National Park in central Nepal. Before that, he hopes to figure out a way to keep the elephants at bay.

Citation

Thapa, G. J., Thapa, K., Thapa, R., Jnawali, S. R., Wich, S. A., Poudyal, L. P., & Karki, S. (2018). Counting crocodiles from the sky: monitoring the critically endangered gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) population with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). Journal of Unmanned Vehicle Systems, 6(2), 71-82.

This story was first published on Mongabay. Read the original story here.
Cheese lovers would and should line up for Portland and perhaps Oregon's best cheese event (right up there with Portland Beer and Cheese Fest) The Wedge this Saturday, October 6th from noon to 6pm. Presented by the Oregon Cheese Guild, The Wedge is a Farmers Market-style festival celebrating cheese and everything that goes with it and yes that includes craft beer (plus wine and cider). A ticket basically gets you unlimited samples but bring some cash because you can purchase your own wedges of cheese to take home and even better, the entry ticket comes with a $5 voucher for use purchasing a wedge.In past years The Wedge has been a block party style event outside of Rogue's Green Dragon but this year it moves to 100 SE Alder St. where Portland Night Market is held. It will be an indoor and outdoor event which is a wise choice for this season.

When

Saturday October 6th, 2018, 12pm  6pm.

Who

This is a family friendly event that is open to cheese lovers.

Tasting

Sampling cheeses and specialty foods from our more than 65 vendors requires purchase of a tasting ticket, available in advance for $15 or at the door for $20. Beverage sampling and VIP tickets are also available. All tickets come with a $5 voucher to purchase your favorite new cheese! Kids 12 and under are free. Purchase tickets HERE.
They Reluctantly Get Vaxxed,

Then Try to 'Detox' From It
(Newser)  Saudi Arabia's Consulate in Istanbul insisted Thursday that a missing Saudi contributor to The Washington Post left its building before disappearing, the AP reports, directly contradicting Turkish officials who say they believe the writer is still inside. The comments further deepen the mystery surrounding what happened to Jamal Khashoggi, who had been living in a self-imposed exile in the US while writing columns critical of the kingdom and its policies under upstart Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Khashoggi's disappearance also threatened to further deteriorate relations between Turkey and Saudi Arabia, which are on opposite sides of an ongoing four-nation boycott of Qatar and other regional crises. In a statement carried by the state-run Saudi Press Agency, the consulate did not challenge that Khashoggi, 59, had disappeared while on a visit to the diplomatic post.

story continues below

"The consulate confirmed that it is carrying out follow-up procedures and coordination with the Turkish local authorities to uncover the circumstances of the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi after he left the consulate building," the statement said, without elaborating. The statement comes after a spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters Wednesday night that authorities believed the journalist was still there. "According to the information we have, this person who is a Saudi citizen is still at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul," Ibrahim Kalin said. "We don't have information to the contrary." On Tuesday, Khashoggi entered the consulate to get paperwork he needed in order to be married next week, said his fiancee Hatice. Post said it was "extremely concerned" about Khashoggi.

(Read more Saudi Arabia stories.)
(Newser)  A confrontation among four women in a Colorado grocery store has led to one being called a "shero," two grateful for her efforts, and a fourth, who calls herself the "patriotic" one of the bunch, arrested, per the Daily Dot. The incident took place at a City Market grocery in Rifle, where Fabiola Velasquez and Isabel Marin, both from Mexico, were doing some shopping Mondayuneventful until they were stopped by fellow shopper Linda Dwire, who'd overheard them speaking Spanish, the first two women tell BuzzFeed. Dwire went off on them, they say, telling them to learn English if they like America, with Velasquez adding that Dwire then started getting aggressive and putting her hand in Velasquez's face. That's when Kamira Trent, who was shopping in the same aisle, says she saw what was going on and stepped in to defend Marin and Velasquez.

story continues below

A video on Velasquez's Facebook page now shared more than 16,000 times shows part of the screaming match between Trent and Dwire. Trent yells: "I'm calling the cops. You leave these women alone! Get out!" Dwire retorts, "You will lose your country" and starts to walk away, with Trent close behind. Trent did call the police, leading to Dwire's arrest on charges of bias-motivated harassment; she's due back in court next month. Dwire, who says she's confronted people not speaking English before, tells BuzzFeed her rant wasn't racist but a "patriotic thing" and that she doesn't mind immigrants coming here "as long as they want to be an American." Meanwhile, Velasquez says, "It felt good to see someone who was born here defend us that way." Trent's advice for others in similar situations: "Stand up and say something." (This man ranted against Spanish speakers in NYC.)
(Newser)  An Iowa woman faces a first-degree murder charge for allegedly smashing her infant daughter's skull against a coffee table, People reports. Authorities say Alicia Marie Rios, 28, of Elgin admitted to throwing down the 5-week-old in a fit of frustration in August. The infant's head struck a coffee table. Initially, Rios told police that the baby had been sleeping in a car seat when a 2-year-old sibling dropped a toy on her head, the Des Moines Register reports. The injured infant, identified as Lydia Rios, was taken to a hospital in a coma, suffering from multiple skull fractures and two brain bleeds, according to KCRG. Hospital staff found the injuries to be suspicious and contacted authorities. Lydia died on Aug. 26, KWWL reports. Rios has yet to enter a plea, per People, and is being held at the Fayette County Jail. If convicted, she faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. (Read more infanticide stories.)
(Newser)  A freak accident that claimed the life of a British man in Australia may be the first of its kind on record. The 23-year-old working on a fishing trawler off the Northern Territory was lifting a net onto the boat when he was bitten by a sea snake on Thursday. The BBC reports the snakes are extremely venomous but CNN reports most typically don't transmit a lethal dose of the venom with their bites. (The New York Times previously explained they're designed to deliver enough to paralyze smaller prey, not creatures of our size.) Further, the snakes rarely come into contact with humans, and when they do, one Australian professor describes them as peaceful.

story continues below

"People go scuba diving with them all the time," he says. The key difference here is that the snake was tangled in the net and potentially injured, and "perhaps looking to lash out." There are 70 known species of sea snake, nearly half of which are found in Australian waters; officials didn't say which species bit the man. (Here's how a sea snake that can't drink seawater survives.)
(Newser)  Looking to make a quick $15,000? Find these two fugitive prisoners for Chinese authorities. In what the BBC calls a "rare" event, Wang Lei, said to be in his mid-30s, and Zhang Guilin, in his late 30s or early 40s, broke out of the Lingyuan Third Prison in Liaoning province, and there's now a reward for information leading to their capture. The story is muddled as to how the pair, both serving life sentences, broke out, with some reports saying they escaped wearing stolen prison guard uniforms and using stolen access cards, while other reports note they may have simply slipped out of a prison window. They're both believed to still be in the province.

story continues below

What the BBC notes is just as uncommon as the escape itself is the fact that the media is reporting on an incident that "might cause public alarm"; such incidents usually aren't disclosed until they've been resolved. Wang had his death sentence for kidnapping commuted to life in prison at the end of last year. Zhang, however, who was in for life for robbery, had a more interesting past: He was originally sentenced to prison in 2001, got out in 2007, and then committed another crime just a year later. He got his life sentence handed down in 2009, and he tried to escape twice after that. Meanwhile, on social media, the prison's workers are being trashed as "incompetent." (Read more China stories.)
(Newser)  A customer at a chain pizza restaurant in South Carolina didn't like that his lettuce bowl wasn't getting refilled the way he wanted, and the owner of that eatery pushed back in the most "bless your heart" way possible. The reason behind the commotion: The customer at Greenville's Pizza Inn complained about a worker who has autism, and Amanda Cartagine was irked by the way the man spoke about her employee; she says about 60% of her workers have special needs, per WYFF. Cartagine says her restaurant's manager tried to explain the worker's circumstances and that he wasn't trained to do what the customer requested, and the customer retorted that a sign should go up informing customers about the workers there having special needs.

story continues below

"These are like my kids, and it made me angry," she says. "I wanted to do something that was not rude, but got my point across." What she did: put up a sign on the door that reads, "We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and hire all of God's children." FOX Carolina has a photo of the sign. A mom of one of Cartagine's workers, who has Down syndrome, says she's grateful her son has a place like Cartagine's to work at. "We parents with special needs [children] are always faced with breaking down barriers, stigmas, teaching other people that our children are more like them, than different," she tells WYFF. As for the customer who spurred the new sign, Cartagine says, "If he is not OK with that, then I'm OK with him not coming back. That's a dollar that I don't need." (Read more uplifting news stories.)
(Newser)  He sat two rows behind Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh during his hearing last Thursday, and hundreds of Facebook employees are reportedly up in arms about the perceived show of support. That's because the man in question is Joel Kaplan, Facebook's Washington, DC-based vice president for global public policy. He's a longtime friend of Kavanaugh's, but the appearance apparently rankled Facebookers, who asked Mark Zuckerberg about Kaplan's choice during his Q&A the next day. The Wall Street Journal reports Zuckerberg said he would have made a different choice, but that no Facebook policies were violated. The New York Times reports Kaplan sent out an internal message Friday that read, "I want to apologize. I recognize this moment is a deeply painful oneinternally and externally."

story continues below

But in the Journal's telling, employees haven't simmered down about it, and Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg are planning to discuss it in a Friday meeting. (As Vice puts it, they'll face "hundreds of irate employees.") Facebook had this to say in a statement to CNBC: "Our leadership team recognizes that they've made mistakes handling the events of the last week and we're grateful for all the feedback from our employees." Vice reports Kaplan sat next to his wife and Kavanaugh's family at the hearing; the Times reports he describes Kavanaugh and his wife as his closest friends in DC, and notes the men were in each other's weddings. He says he took a personal day to attend the hearing.

(Read more Facebook stories.)
#Vice FM Vice foreign minister due in Washington to meet U.S., Japanese counterparts South Korea's vice foreign minister embarked on a trip to Washington on Sunday for talks with his American and Japanese counterparts on North Korea and other pending issues. Cho...

#KBO Homegrown starters set to duel in Game 2 of Korean Series Sophomore starter So Hyeong-jun will try to give the KT Wiz a 2-0 lead over the Doosan Bears in the Korean Series when the South Korean baseball championship final continues on Mon...
(Newser)  The calls were coming from a landline inside the Marine Mammal Center in Hawaii, so incessantly that hospital director Claire Simeone rushed to the facility in a panic to figure out what was going on. Simeone had received nine calls in 15 minutes, but each time she answered, she was met with an eerie silence, recounts the San Francisco Chronicle. A prank? Was someone in trouble? Nope, Simeone explains via tweet that she entered the hospital's laboratory and uncovered the mystery: "THERE IS A GECKO SITTING ON THE TOUCHSCREEN OF THE PHONE, MAKING CALLS WITH HIS TINY GECKO FEET!!!"

story continues below

As it turns out, the gecko (pictured in the above tweet) had been busy. While stretched out on the phone, it inadvertently placed calls to everyone on the facility's recent-call list, some of them over and over. I had to send out a note to all of our staff and volunteers, who may have received telemarketing calls, she tweeted. I immediately hired gecko. (It's not the only place a gecko has turned up uninvited.)
(Newser)  Shipwreck hunters who spent eight days this summer unearthing and examining the remains of a schooner in Lake Erie in Ohio think it's most likely a sailing ship that sank nearly two centuries ago, per the AP. That would make the wreckage the oldest ever found in the shallowest of the Great Lakes. But there's a bit of debate among the marine archaeologists and shipwreck hunters who are trying to identify the wreck about how confident they are it is indeed the Lake Serpent that sank in 1829. So far, several signs point to a match, according to the National Museum of the Great Lakes, which on Thursday released the findings from its work this summer. For starters, the site is near where the Lake Serpent was thought to have gone down near Kelleys Island off the Ohio shoreline.

story continues below

Divers also determined that the wreck's size and stone cargo point to it being Lake Serpent, and they uncovered what appears to be a carving at the ship's bow. Historical records show the Lake Serpent had a serpent's head carved near the front, an unusual feature for a vessel of that era. Carrie Sowden, the Great Lakes museum's archaeology director, said it all adds up, but she was hesitant to say that it's definitely the Lake Serpent. "I don't know what else it could be, but there's still enough unknown that we haven't seen," she said, adding that divers plan to take another look next year. The schooner was built in 1821 in Cleveland at a time when the city had less than 1,000 residents. Its job was to carry cargoproduce, flour, whiskey, limestoneto ports along the lakes.

(Read more shipwreck stories.)
(Newser)  Bad news for Honda CR-V owners: Gas may be leaking into your vehicle's oil supply, which can cause engine performance issues and stalling, according to Consumer Reports. The magazine started looking into the issue after nine of its members reported problemswhich affects 2017 and 2018 CRVs with the 1.5-liter turbocharged enginediscovering that dozens of more complaints about the SUV had been made to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and hundreds more on online forums. A Honda rep says the company is "investigating the situation and developing a remedy," which it "hopes" will be available by mid-November. Once the repair is ready, it will be covered by the warranty.

story continues below

The engine issue is most prevalent in cold-weather areas and during short trips and low-speed driving. Honda, which doesn't consider it to be a safety issue so won't issue a recall, hasn't said how many vehicles may be affected. The companys spokesman told CR that the "condition is not as widespread as some Internet chatter may imply." Nonetheless, says the magazine's Jake Fisher, "it does happen, and when it happens, it should be addressed." This year, Honda has recalled hundreds of thousands of vehicles, including CR-Vs, in China due to a similar issue, Reuters reports. The CR-V is one of the best-selling SUVs, per Forbes, with some 30,000 per month being sold in the US. If you're experiencing engine problems with your CR-V, contact the NHTSA at 888-327-4236 or safecar.gov, and contact Honda at 800-999-1009. (Read more Honda CR-V stories.)
Recently, Governor Jerry Brown of California signed a number of new gun control bills into law while vetoing several others.Even though California already has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation, the Democratic-controlled legislature met and pushed a number of gun control bills through both houses that were then sent to the Governors desk.The proposed new bills were written largely in response to the Parkland Florida school shooting in February of 2018 that claimed the lives of seventeen students and teachers.In many ways, the bills that Governor Brown signed into law echo very similar laws that were passed and signed into law by Governor Rick Scott of Florida. That being said, Governor Brown also signed a number of laws that are far more restrictive than the ones Governor Scott signed into law earlier as well.Perhaps the most notable of the bills that Governor Brown signed into law was raising the legal age from eighteen to twenty one years to purchase rifles and shotguns from licensed dealers. Governor Scott signed a very similar bill for Florida earlier this year. The California law applies not only to California residents buying guns from licensed dealers in the state, but also those making online purchases.Governor Brown also signed into law a bill that imposes a lifetime ban on owning firearms for California residents who have been convicted of serious domestic violent charges as well as those who have been hospitalized twice within one year AND who have been deemed by medical health professionals to be a danger to themselves and/or the general public. However, the law also includes a provision that those subject to the law will have the right to petition the California court for the right to purchase and possess a firearm.Another bill that became California law after Governor Browns signature was a requirements that applicants for concealed gun licenses must complete a minimum of eight hours of firearms safety training under an approved instructor, and that the training must furthermore include a live firing exam to demonstrate that the applicant is competent with the firearm.Yet another law that restricts guns in the state is one that strengthens a previous law banning bump stocks and other trigger devices like the ones that were used in the 2017 Las Vegas shooting that claimed the lives of nearly sixty people.All that being said, Governor Brown also vetoed a handful of the bills that were passed by the legislature as well. For example, he vetoed a bill that would have limited California residents to only purchasing one long gun a month, as well as another bill that would have required the California Department of Justice to create a system that would allow gun owners to voluntarily surrender their firearms to the state.Soon after Governor Brown signed the bills into law, the National Rifle Association filed a lawsuit against the bill that raised the legal age limit to purchase rifles and shotguns, just like the lawsuit that was filed after Governor Scott signed a similar bill into Florida law as well.https://www.activistpost.com/2018/10/what-the-new-california-gun-control-bills-mean.html
The government yesterday announced a comprehensive package of reforms to secure the Kingdoms longterm fiscal stability. The newly-announced Fiscal Balance Programme - the product of a far-reaching spending review conducted across all government departments - will see the countrys budget deficit eliminated by 2022, with the aim of delivering annual fiscal savings of BD800 million. This programme builds on the previous fiscal consolidation efforts, where initiatives implemented during the period of 2015-2017 yielded annual fiscal savings amounting to BD854m.

The measures also include the establishment of a series of new units designed to monitor spending, streamline processes, enhance transparency and increase efficiencies across government. These include the establishment of internal audit and central government procurement units within the Ministry of Finance, and a new debt management office. To support the funding requirements of the Fiscal Balance Programme, a financial support agreement worth US$10 billion was signed between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait.

Speaking at the announcement Bahrains Deputy Prime Minister, Shaikh Khaled bin Abdulla Al Khalifa, Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Financial Affairs, said: Todays announcement demonstrates our commitment to putting the governments finances on a solid and sustainable footing. Our Fiscal Balance Programme combined with the Financial Support Agreement from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait allows for a swift and achievable consolidation Program that balances fiscal sustainability with continued economic growth and prosperity.

Bahrains Minister of Finance, Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohamed Al Khalifa said: With spending reductions commencing in the short term and the target of eliminating the budget deficit by 2022, the Programme secures the foundations of an economy that affords even more opportunity, more jobs, and greater living standards for the Kingdoms generations of today and tomorrow.
As part of streamlining operational government expenses, Bahrain is forming six task forces to identify and implement a reduction in the government operations expenses.

They include Government building rents task force, ICT task force, Government building maintenance task force, Travel and transport task force, Medical resources task force as well as other operational expenditures task force. To ensuring hassle-free operation, the government has also developed a working mechanism to support the effective implementation of the fiscal balance programme which is expected to reduce the deficit by BHD 800 million annually over the coming years.

As per the mechanism, all purchase requests from the government entities will be submitted to a ministerial committee for financial affairs and rationalisation of expenditure, which will then be referred to a relevant task force for review. These requests will be then submitted to a Ministerial committee for approval with the recommendations of the task force. However, the committee reserves the right to approve or reject the purchase request based on the task forces recommendation filed to them.

Besides, as part of the plan, the government has also announced a voluntary retirement scheme for government employees allowing them to retire early with full benefits and incentives. The move, according to the report, enables the employees to contribute to economic growth through entrepreneurship or participation in the private sector. To participate, the employees should satisfy certain eligibility criteria. Those applying for voluntary retirement should be full-time employees registered under the civil service bureau and should have at least 10 years of actual service.

The scheme, however, excludes senior position and requires that the employee shall not return to civil service after retirement. Those fulfilling the said criteria will be granted up to 5 years of series plus a one-off direct cash compensation equal to the cost of purchasing five additional years of service. The selected employee will also be eligible for end of service promotion and end of service indemnity.

Among the major steps that will be taken, the report confirms the implementation of the Value-added Tax in line with GCC agreements. The report states that a 5pc VAT will be applied to non-essential goods and services, in line with the GCC VAT Agreement.
Data from a recent statistics shows that Bahrains ratio of one voluntary society per 1000 of the population is unique among other nations around the globe. Experts argue that this proves that the voluntary work culture is widespread in Kingdom especially among the youth. The figures released by the Arab Federation for Voluntary Activities President Hussin Buhazza say that there are more than 600 societies and associations for voluntary work in Bahrain. In an exclusive talk with the Tribune, he further revealed that the federation intends to take part in the organisation of Prince Mohammed Bin Fahad Foundation For Human Development Medal Prize. Applications for the award will be accepted in Bahrain, while a distribution ceremony will be held at the League of Arab States Headquarters in Cairo.

When asked about the challenges, he told Tribune that the most important one is the shortage of funds. Our task also becomes particularly difficult when it comes to spreading the culture of volunteerism among the youth, he said stressing that the federation in cooperation with the League of the Arab States and the concerned institutions are paying sincere efforts to overcome such obstacles.

On the Prince Mohammed Prize, Mr Buhazza explained that the award aims at supporting exceptional voluntary work endeavours in the Arab World and is the fulfilment of an agreement between the federation and Prince Mohammed Bin Fahad Foundation For Human Development signed the last march.

During a press conference held recently at the Grove Hotel and Conference Centre, the official said: The federation, through its partnership with establishments of the civil society, seeks to empower the role of voluntary work in serving Arab societies, fulfil its requirements and achieve sustainable development. The prize, he said, is one of the biggest of its kind in the region supported and sponsored by some of the pioneering international experts in the field.

On his part, Prince Mohammed Bin Fahad Foundation For Human Development Public Relations Head, Dr Faisal Al Enizi, asserted that the award would stimulate competition in the voluntary work field and promote the concept of social responsibility. This would encourage Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO)s and individuals to increase their contributions to the sustainable development of their countries. The launch of such an exceptional award from the Kingdom of Bahrain, which also hosts the Arab Federation for Voluntary Activities, reiterates the leading role of the Kingdom in the field of voluntary work, on local, regional and international levels, said Dr Al Enizi.
Companies and organizations in Bahrain can no longer put off implementing the latest technologies if they want to be successful and they must also be proactive in adopting the latest in ICT, according to the expert consensus from a top tech summit held in the Kingdom recently.

Technological solutions have come a long way and its about time for businesses here to take full advantage of it, according to a number of experts who spoke at the BBK EmTech Summit held over the past two days. According to the experts, Bahrain also needs to see more innovation and original ideas rather than importing innovative solutions.

Organized by the BBK, in collaboration with Bahrain Institute of Banking and Finance (BIBF) the summit, held under the theme Technology that Changes the Paradigm, shed light on the importance of Emerging Technologies (EmTech). Historically what has happened is that it was the IT department alone that had this affiliation with technology. I think in the world that we live in right now, technology should be permeating to all levels of the organization.

I think the modus operandi has to change completely. The concept of technology also ties in well with the concept of agility and I think in this day and age of disruption, agility is very important. So things should be happening not only in the IT departments but there should be big changes across the organizations, technology should permeate to business units, permeate to branches at all different levels, said Khalid Saad, CEO of Bahrain FinTech Bay.
A stone image of an ancient priest is one of hundreds of stolen antiquities recovered by the Syrian government and put on display in Damascus this week, a reminder of the mass looting of Syrias heritage during seven years of war.

It was carved for Yalhi bin Yalhabouda, a high priest in Palmyra, upon his death in 120 AD, his status apparent from his tall hat and laurel wreath. It was illegally dug up during Islamic States occupation of the desert town. This civilization is not only for Syria, but we are the custodians of it and we preserve it for the world, said Khalil Hariri, head of the Palmyra antiquities department.

Syria stood at the heart of the ancient Middle East, a crucible for some of the worlds earliest civilizations and was at times incorporated into Egyptian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Hittite, Persian, Greek and Roman empires. After its descent into a messy, multi-sided civil war in 2011, the warring parties began to plunder that inheritance, looting museums and excavating ancient sites.

Islamic State which had long experience of selling stolen antiquities for profit, seized Palmyra and its extensive Roman-era ruins. As with other parts of Syria and Iraq which it turned into a short-lived caliphate, it made a public show of destroying many artefacts and ancient buildings as idolatrous, while secretly benefiting from the illicit trade in historical goods.
A Financial Support Agreement worth US$10 billion has been signed between the government of the Kingdom of Bahrain and the governments of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the State of Kuwait, in coordination with the Arab Monetary Fund as an advisory body. The agreement will support the funding requirements of Bahrains Fiscal Balance Program, a comprehensive package of reforms adopted by the government of Bahrain that will secure the Kingdoms long term fiscal stability and eliminate the countrys budget deficit by 2022.

Kuwaits Al Rai newspaper earlier reported that the agreement will be signed in Bahrain after the ministers complete their current visit to Jordan, where they are concluding a financial aid deal for that country, the newspaper reported. A Gulf decision at the highest levels was taken to start the execution steps for a programme to support the financial stability of Bahrain, the diplomatic source was quoted as saying. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and theUAE, which are diplomatic allies of Bahrain, announced in June that they were in talks on a major aid package for the kingdom that would be linked to its progress in reforming its finances.

The $10 billion package would be worth about a quarter of Bahrains annual gross domestic product and 28 per cent of public debt, and cover over two years of state budget deficits according to International Monetary Fund projections. It would put no significant strain on the combined finances of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE, which have hundreds of billions of dollars in their sovereign wealth funds and with Brent oil trading above $80 a barrel, have seen their own deficits narrow sharply or disappear in recent months.
Bahrain is all set to tap into the growing market of Liquefied National Gas from as far as the US or Australia by launching a specially built LNG ship by the end of this year. The report by Financial Times, quoting oil minister, Shaikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al-Khalifa, said that the Kingdom is discussing long-term plans, most importantly, with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, about the development of an interconnected shared gas grid.

It is ultimately about the security of supply, Sheikh Mohammed was quoted as saying by FT. He also explained how optimistic is the Kingdom on the potential of an 80 billion-barrel oilfield, its biggest find since the 1930s, in transforming the states fortunes. What we have is extremely encouraging, the report quoted Minister as he said that the Kingdom is working to prepare the right fiscal regime to attract companies to come and co-invest with us.

Bahrain, he said, is aiming to drill two to four wells to test the flow from the field, with the first results expected around the turn of the year. He told that the key criteria in this development is making this attractive for companies to invest. It should give investors the returns they require while still being fair to the government here.

Besides offering concessions, the Minister also revealed that the Kingdom will most likely go with production-sharing agreements, where revenues are divided in a percentage split with partners. Where we end up exactly remains to be seen, he said expressed his confidence in the development saying, It will be win-win. As he also revealed the countrys interest in working with companies in the US shale sector, the minister said that Italys ENI is already working on further exploration in the Kingdom. Interests, he said, have also been shown by Chinese companies.

The good news is it is very shallow offshore. Its a bathtub area. So we are looking at ways to optimise costs of development, the minister was quoted as saying. When he was asked about the transition the world is now witnessing from the carbon-based fuel, he told FT that there is little concern in the region  yet  about so-called peak demand being imminent. Citing to the recovery in oil prices that now stands at around $85 a barrel, he explained that the demand is still growing strongly, with supply struggling to keep up.

There is no real evidence of peak demand being achievable in the next few decades, the minister said. Even if electric vehicles and renewable energy take off, we still see hydrocarbons remaining the dominant part of the fuel mix. Supply risks far outweigh demand destruction. Ultimately, Bahrain is banking on the development of its new oil reserves to support the entire country, with energy sales accounting for the vast majority of government income. Its difficult to see it not having an impact, given the size of the resource, he said.
Cost advantage will act a winning factor for Bahrain when compared to its gulf neighbours, according to a top Bahraini official. Khalid Al Rumaihi, chief executive of the Economic Development Board of Bahrain , told Financial Times that the Kingdoms well-trained population plus an innovative regulatory environment can create ideal conditions for back-office functions and financial technology firms.

These factors will put Bahrain in advantage when competing against Dubai or Abu Dhabi, he added. Im selling Bahrain with these advantages, with these sectors that make sense, he was quoted as saying. Global institutions, he adds, are unlikely to shift their investment banking teams from the globally connected hub in Dubai. Im going to talk to [companies] about middle office, Mr Rumaihi says.

Im going to say, do you need your 200 legal team in Dubai or in Abu Dhabi? Look at the cost advantages of Bahrain. Meanwhile, Hisham Al Rayes, chief executive of GFH Financial Group, told Financial Times that the potential for oil revenues from the shale discovery in the spring could transform the outlook. Asset valuations now form a great opportunity to invest, he says. Now is the opportunity  we are undertaking acquisitions here, in education, healthcare, commercial property and housing.

Along with this, Bahrain is also seeking to reinforce its role in financial technology innovation. According to the report, which quotes board member Maissan Almaskati, who is also chairman of FinTech Consortium Bahrain, a partnership between the EDB and FinTech Consortium, a global incubator, the hub has attracted 30 companies since its launch in February, with a target of 50-60.

There is nothing else like it on an onshore basis within the GCC, he asserts. Bahrain has been approached by a payment processing start-up in a competing Gulf country that had required it to sell a major stake to a regulated firm before handling money, according to Mr Almaskati. What start-up would do that when you are just getting started? he says, without naming the company
Kyoto has topped a ranking of major Japanese cities as measured by criteria such as livability and economy, according to a survey by a think tank affiliated with major real estate developer Mori Building Co.

The Institute for Urban Strategies on Wednesday released its first edition of the ranking, which covered 72 cities excluding Tokyo.

The cities were rated using a total of 83 indicators across six categories a economy and business, transport and accessibility, environment, life and residence, culture and interchange, and research and development a based on statistical results and hearings with local residents.

Kyoto was highly rated for its universities and abundant tourism properties, including historical and cultural assets, the think tank said.

Fukuoka came in second on the back of its powerful economy. A number of special deregulation zones are located in the southwestern hub.

Despite scoring poorly when it came to crime, Osaka ranked third thanks to robust private consumption and investment, and its convenient transportation network.

Nagoya came fourth, with many companies in the city having high global market shares, while Yokohama ranked fifth.

At No.6 was Kobe, which is making strenuous efforts to lure tourists, followed by Sapporo, which has many tourist spots and tourism-related facilities.

Sendai came in eighth thanks to strong marks for its universities in the area of research.
Former Governor of Oyo State, Chief Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala, on Thursday condemned the action of some agents of the state governm...

Former Governor of Oyo State, Chief Christopher Adebayo Alao-Akala, on Thursday condemned the action of some agents of the state government for sealing his property in Ibadan, the state capital.





Recall that the state government had on Thursday sealed the National Horticultural Research Institute, (NIHORT), located at Idi-Ishin area of Ibadan, the state capital for failing to remit its workers Pay As You Earn (PAYE) tax to the coffers of the state government.





It also sealed no fewer than ten other firms during an inter-ministerial enforcement exercise across the capital city.





Alao-Akalas property located at Dugbe in the heart of Ibadan, the state capital was also sealed during the raid.





Chairman, Oyo State Board of Internal Revenue, (OYBIR), Mr. Bicci Alli, while speaking on the raid on Thursday, explained that the affected organisations defaulted in the remittances since 2003.





Alili said governments concern was, To ensure that all taxes, dues and revenues accruable to the coffers of the state government are duly paid.





But, Alao-Akala, while reacting insisted that the sealing of his property was politically motivated.





The former governor in a statement issued on his behalf by Jeremiah Akande, Head, New Media and Public Affairs, Alao-Akala Campaign Organisation urged his supporters to be calm and continue to be law-abiding.





Alao-Akala said, Oyo State Government today under the guise of non-compliance with tax payment launched a disguised attack on the person and properties of His Excellency, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala.





At about 12.30pm this afternoon, staff of the Oyo Board of Internal Revenue stormed one of the Properties of Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala located at No. 32, Oba Adebimpe Road, Dugbe, Ibadan with policemen and members of the Nigerian Civil Defence Corp and sealed up the property after presenting a letter from the Revenue Board giving one Mrs Oludewa the authority to seal the property.





The business complex popularly called Ile Itesiwaju and houses business concerns worth over 3 Billion Naira is presently under lock and key and most of the shop owners and customers locked inside the complex.




The bid of Ibikunle Amosun, governor of Ogun state, to choose his successor has suffered a setback as the All Progressives Congress (A...





The bid of Ibikunle Amosun, governor of Ogun state, to choose his successor has suffered a setback as the All Progressives Congress (APC) has declared Dapo Abiodun winner of the partys governorship primary poll in the state.





The state chapter of the APC had declared Abiodun Akinlade as winner of the governorship primary election after conducting a parallel exercise.





Akinlade is the preferred candidate of Amosun.





Taiwo Adeoluwa, secretary to the Ogun state government, had accused Adams Oshiomhole, national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), of planning to impose a governorship candidate on party members.





Justifying why the party conducted its own exercise, Derin Adebiyi, state chairman of the party, said: They arrived on Monday and at the meeting held at the MITROS Suites, Ibara, Abeokuta, the NWC panel told us the primary would hold on Tuesday.





The party members were all in their wards waiting for the NWC panel, but they never showed up.





But in a statement issued by Yekini Nabena, acting spokesman of the APC, the ruling party said Abiodun is its candidate.





The national working committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) announces Mr. Dapo Abiodun as winner of the partys Ogun state governorship primaries, the statement read.





Nabena said Abiodun polled 102,305 to win the election.





He said Jimi Lawal, Kunle Akinlade, Bimbo Ashiru Adegbenga Kaka and Abayomi Koroto polled 51,153; 23, 443; 29, 764; 17, 771; and 9, 610 respectively.




Police have reportedly attacked leaders and members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who are currently protesting against the outc...

Police have reportedly attacked leaders and members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who are currently protesting against the outcome of the Osun State Governorship election at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja.





I have just been teargassed by the @PoliceNG at @inecnigeria office. Gunshots have been fired.





This was a peaceful protest. How can I be treated like this in a country I have fought for and invested in?





This is madness, I came with words they answered with bullets! Senator Ben Murray Bruce tweeted.

Leaders of the opposition party among whom are the Senate President, Bukola Saraki; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara; and the National Chairman of the party, Uche Secondus, led the protesters to INEC office after they had earlier converged at the national headquarters of the PDP in Abuja.





Also among the protesters are Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State; former Niger State Governor and presidential aspirant, Sule Lamido; and Senator Dino Melaye, among others.








President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday met behind closed doors with the outgoing Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola. He arrived the ...

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday met behind closed doors with the outgoing Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola.





He arrived the Presidents office along with the governor-elect, Gboyega Oyetola.





Oyetola emerged the winner of the governorship election in Osun State after rerun election that followed the September 22nd election in the state.





The meeting with the President started around 12 noon.





It was still in progress at the time of filing this report.




The national assembly primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held on Wednesday in many states but was moved to Thursda...





Kwara. The national assembly primary election of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held on Wednesday in many states but was moved to Thursday inKwara.





The reason for the postponement was not given and the venue of the exercise in the three senatorial districts was not known to many journalists and party members.





But by Thursday evening, reports emerged that Abdulfatai Ahmed, governor of the state, who had earlier declared his senatorial bid, had emerged consensus candidate of Kwara south senatorial district.





Rafiu Ibrahim, senator currently representing the district, was said to have lost out in the race after delegates unanimously adopted the governor.





In Kwara north, two house of reps member are battling for the ticket of the ruling party; they are Zakari Mohammed and Aliyu Pategi but many were kept in the dark over the contestants in Kwara central where Senate President Bukola Saraki is from.





Top PDP chieftains in the senatorial district kept their lips sealed when told to comment on those seeking to replace Saraki, a presidential aspirant of the PDP.





Tunde Ashaolu, spokesman of the party in Kwara, said he had no information about the senatorial aspirants in Kwara central. However, he made it clear that someone had picked up the PDP nomination and expression of interest forms for the senatorial district.





He refused to disclose the identity of the individual.





Commenting on the primary, a PDP member from the senatorial district said: You wont believe that as a delegate, I dont know those contesting for the ticket of Kwara central. I was only told one person collected the form, who that person is I dont know, our leaders said he is anonymous.





On Thursday, Ashaolu said the primaries had been concluded and winners had emerged.





We have done all our primaries but I cant give you that information you requested for. The only thing is that all our senatorial primaries have been completed but I cant give you names of the winners, he said.





But a source revealed that Saraki obtained the form as a soft landing in the event that things do no go as planned at the presidential primary.





The senate president picked the form as well as that of presidential. I can tell you that he is more interested in retaining his seat at the senate than being the head of this country, the source said.





If he had not obtained the form, a man like David Mark would have had a higher stake than him as to the leadership of the 9th senate. So, he knows what he is doing.





Let me tell you the PDP ticket in Kwara central was given to a retired permanent secretary in Kwara state. His name is Abdulrahman Babatunde Sidiq. He will hand over the ticket to the senate president when he is ready.





PDP has up till Sunday to present its candidate in Kwara central senatorial district as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has set October 7 as deadline for political parties to submit names of their candidates.





Yusuph Olaniyonu, spokesman of the senate president, did not respond to inquiries as at the time of filing this report.





If Saraki succeeds in returning to the senate, he will be the only one to do so of the three Kwara senators in the 8th assembly.




National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has declared 12 states along the River Niger and Benue as worst affected by flood disaster...

National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has declared 12 states along the River Niger and Benue as worst affected by flood disaster this year, while other states are being monitored.





The Director General of NEMA, Engr. Mustapha Maihaja made the disclosure when his agency hosted the monthly meeting of the Forum of Spokespersons of Security and Response Agencies (NEMA).





He said casualty have been recorded in several Nigerian states following heavy rains that caused the Rivers Niger and Benue to overflow.





The worst affected states are Benue, Kogi, Niger, Kwara, Anambra, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Adamawa, Kwara, Kebbi and Taraba.





He said proactive intervention measures instituted prior to the occurrence of the flood have prevented the situation from aggravating to the point of the 2012 disaster.





He added that even the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria has commended the proactive measure of his agency.





Maihaja said:Though concerns have been expressed over a possible repeat of the 2012 flood disaster in some states when the River Niger overflowed its banks, displacing many residents, this year we are able to manage it.





When the agency received the forecast of high rainfalls and likelihood of the heavy flooding, immediately mobilized the stakeholders in preparing ahead with all necessary resources for preventive interventions.





This mitigated against the worsening of the situation as most of the communities at risks were evacuated to safer higher locations ahead of the rising water level from the rivers.





With presidential directive, the agency also declared national disasters in the initial six worst affected states and immediately created Emergency Operations Centres (EOCs) with officers deployed to coordinate the interventions.





The situation was also being monitored with daily updates compared with the water level of the 2012 flood.





We have sustained campaign advising residents on the flood plains to immediately relocate to the upland areas or to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps established to mitigate the disaster




Osun State Governor-Elect, Gboyega Oyetola has said he is full prepared for governance and would not be needing any tutelage when he ass...

Osun State Governor-Elect, Gboyega Oyetola has said he is full prepared for governance and would not be needing any tutelage when he assume office, assuring the party leadership that he will not disappoint them.





Oyetola spoke just as the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) asked him to run an all-inclusive government and work to carry along the partys last alliance with the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in other to cement the alliance.





Oyetola who presented his certificate of return to the APC national Chairman in company of the state Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola said having learnt the rudiments of administration; he will work to build on the legacies left behind by the outgoing governor.





President for his support throughout the period and coming to campaign during the period and giving me massive support. I thank the chairman who literally moved his base from Abuja to Osun. I thank you for the fact that I happen to be the first product of direct primary which everybody is now copying. He said I must thank Mr.President for his support throughout the period and coming to campaign during the period and giving me massive support. I thank the chairman who literally moved his base from Abuja to Osun.I thank you for the fact that I happen to be the first product of direct primary which everybody is now copying.





I am happy that at the end of the day, the best emerged and the best party won the election. I thank the leadership of the party and the governors, starting with the governor of Kano state who headed the campaign team. All the governors played a vital role to ensure we secure victory.I am happy that at the end of the day, the best emerged and the best party won the election.





By the grace of the Almighty God, we really are going to build on the legacy of Ogbeni Aregbesola, especially infrastructure and the economy. I am going to be running an all-inclusive administration.





My guiding value will be accountability and integrity. I want to be able to show case the developmental agenda of Osun that everybody will be proud of. I will not disappoint you because I am prepared for the job. I have learnt the rudiments of administration and I believe that by the grace of the Almighty God, one year from now, we will have cause for celebration.








The Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, has set up a vote protection unit, ahead of the rescheduled All Progressives Congress, APC...





The Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, has set up a vote protection unit, ahead of the rescheduled All Progressives Congress, APC, governorship primaries in the state today.





The Governor announced this while addressing thousands of his supporters at the Government House, Owerri on Friday.





Okorocha yesterday led 9 governors of the APC in a meeting with the National Chairman of the party, Adams Oshiomhole, to discuss the crises over primaries in some states, including Imo.





The governor also met President Muhamadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa.





According to him, the move to set the vote protection unit was, to ensure that every vote counts during the election and that the sanctity of the ballot box was maintained.





Okorocha said that the unit will be coordinated by the former deputy chief of staff operations, Kingsley Uju.





He told the teeming youth to get involved in the process because its their future he is trying to protect.





Tension had gripped the state after the botched election, which was twice postponed following the claims by both factions of the party  the coalition and the Dan Nwafor led state executive that their candidates had won the election.





The controversy was generated by the chairman of the electoral panel, Ahmed Gulak, who disappeared midway into the process and announced Hope Uzodinma as winner of the election.





But other members of the committee led by the Secretary, Henry Igbahadon, later announced Uche Nwosu as the winner.




Festus Keyamo, spokesman of President Muhammadu Buhari reelection campaign, has described those who protested at the headquarters of the...

masters of rigging. Festus Keyamo, spokesman of President Muhammadu Buhari reelection campaign, has described those who protested at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as knownmasters of rigging.





On Friday, Senate President Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the house of representatives, led a protest to INEC headquarters over the Osun governorship election.





Among those who joined the protest were Uche Secondus, PDP national chairman , Aminu Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto state, Sule Lamido, former governor of Jigawa and Ben Bruce, senator representing Bayelsa east.





They had demanded that the electoral body declare Ademola Adeleke, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as the winner of the poll.





The protesters also described INEC as an arm of the federal government.





The opposition had claimed that the rerun was rigged in favour of the APC.





Adeleke had defeated Gbenga Oyetola, his All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, with 353 votes but INEC declared the election inconclusive and fixed a rerun won by Oyetola.





Reacting to the protest via his Twitter handle, Keyamo, a senor advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said the protest was more about the refusal of INEC to allow them practice their trade.





Some Nigerians I saw were laughing out so loud today when they saw pictures of some know masters of rigging protesting at INEC office against rigging in Osun State, Keyamo wrote.




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.
Theyre Thinking Im Stealing: Kansas Man Placed In Handcuffs While Moving TV Into His New Home Elijah C. Watson Elijah Watson serves as Okayplayer's News & Culture Editor. When

Im not going to let this go, Karle Robinson said of the incident.

A black Kansas man was placed in handcuffs after a police officer saw him moving a television into his new home.

READ: Kansas Firefighter Spits On Black Preschooler At Hooters, Calls Child Racist Slur

Karle Robinson, 61, was almost finished with his 12-hour moving day when he was approached by a Tonganoxie policeman on his front lawn and was suspected of being a burglar.

Speaking to the Kansas City Star, Robinson initially understood why the officer might have stopped him, saying that it was late when he was finishing up moving. The 61-year-old offered to get documentation in his home confirming his ownership but the cop instead handcuffed him. Additional officers arrived later and searched for the documents themselves in Robinsons home. Upon retrieving the papers, the officers apologized and cited recent robberies in the same town as for why they handcuffed him.

If Id been a white man, you know that wouldnt happen, Robinson told the Star. Im being handcuffed right here on my own damn property.

Theyre thinking Im stealing, he added. Ive been hearing this for 40 years  getting pulled years, getting pulled over, being searched. Im not going to let this go.

Robinson has filed a complaint with the department. But Tonganoxie Police Chief Greg Lawson backs his officers actions and disagrees with Robinsons claims of racial profiling, stating that the cop who handcuffed him was initially alone.

If I were on that call, by myself, no matter the race of the person, they wouldve been handcuffed, Lawson said.

Source: The Kansas City Star
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.
In February 2017 Patently Apple posted a report titled "Apple Set to Fight 'Right to Repair' Legislation in Nebraska." A month later we posted another report on this subject matter titled "California Joins a Growing list of States Proposing 'Right to Repair' Legislation that Apple will no doubt Oppose." Last month Wired posted a report titled "John Deere Just Swindled Farmers Out of Their Right to Repair." Currently, there are 20 states considering "Right to Repair" legislation that would require device manufacturers to make repair parts, tools, repair guides, and diagnostic software available to the public. Apple is fighting this legislation; public records show that Apple is lobbying against the bill in New York, where lobbying records must be disclosed to the public.

We're now learning that Apple is cementing their policies to further fight 'right to repair' legislation by introducing software locks that will effectively prevent independent and third-party repair on 2018 MacBook Pro computers, according to internal Apple documents obtained by Motherboard.

The new system will render the computer "inoperative" unless a proprietary Apple "system configuration" software is run after parts of the system are replaced.

Kyle Wiens, the CEO of iFixit told Motherboard that at the moment there's "a thriving independent market for MacBook repair, and that this move fundamentally threatens many small businesses and, down the line, may impact school districts, which often have to repair computers used in classrooms at scale. Not everyone lives near an Apple Store or authorized service provider, so it may also make repair much less accessible for people living in underserved areas.





'This is a portion of the ecosystem that has been very healthy. Independent repair companies have been fixing MacBooks undaunted by the user-hostile activities Apple has taken. It could be really detrimental to schools, to people who live in rural areas. If they stick with this, it seems like a huge argument in favor of right to repair."

For the technical details on Apple's latest move on 2018 iMac Pro and MacBook Pro computer repairs, check out Motherboard's full report here. iFixit, the Apple product teardown company that we all love, has a great website on the right to repair you could check out here.

Send in your comments below to tell us what you thing about Apple's latest move. You could also check out the comments being made on this subject matter over in this Reddit discussion session.














Earlier today Patently Apple posted a report titled "Apple Denies Explosive Report about Spy Chips from China infiltrating their Servers." Late today we followed-up with a report dedicated to Apple's formal response posted in a long press release. You can now see why we categorized this Bloomberg story as explosive. So much so that an official response has been delivered in Beijing China.

Response by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs

China is a resolute defender of cybersecurity. It advocates for the international community to work together on tackling cybersecurity threats through dialogue on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit.

Supply chain safety in cyberspace is an issue of common concern, and China is also a victim. China, Russia, and other member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization proposed an "International code of conduct for information security" to the United Nations as early as 2011. It included a pledge to ensure the supply chain security of information and communications technology products and services, in order to prevent other states from using their advantages in resources and technologies to undermine the interest of other countries. We hope parties make less gratuitous accusations and suspicions but conduct more constructive talk and collaboration so that we can work together in building a peaceful, safe, open, cooperative and orderly cyberspace. Translated by Bloomberg News in Beijing.

The timing of Bloomberg's report coincidentally (or not) was timed to Vice President's formal speech today on the Administration's policy towards China which was quite an eye opener.

Response from Supermicro

While we would cooperate with any government investigation, we are not aware of any investigation regarding this topic nor have we been contacted by any government agency in this regard. We are not aware of any customer dropping Supermicro as a supplier for this type of issue.

Every major corporation in today's security climate is constantly responding to threats and evolving their security posture. As part of that effort we are in regular contact with a variety of vendors, industry partners and government agencies sharing information on threats, best practices and new tools. This is standard practice in the industry today. However, we have not been in contact with any government agency regarding the issues you raised.

Furthermore, Supermicro doesn't design or manufacture networking chips or the associated firmware and we, as well as other leading server/storage companies, procure them from the same leading networking companies.

Bloomberg Interviews Reporter who Co-Authored "The Big Hack" Report

Below is Bloomberg's Business TV channel interviewing one of Bloomberg's reporters Jordan Robertson who broke "The Big Hack" story earlier today. The Bloomberg reporter at one point surmised that the hack was designed to spy on American businesses in order to steal their intellectual property long term without having to use a human spy network.








Forbid Them Not, pp. 255-269

This chapter opens with the strangest segment of the entire book. Were back with Jody, and Jody is in Switzerland. But this section is like something out of a James Bond movie. And Im genuinely not exaggerating.

Jody has decided to take the day off.

It was Saturday, and she had no official receptions until evening. She had given her driver, her guard, and her role as ambassador the day off. Today she was just going to be Jody and her sunglasses and her Mercedes convertible.

She decides to go visit some Roman ruins in Avenches.

Yep, I think Id go there too. In fact, I think we need to see that again, this time from another angle.

Look! The modern roads are literally shaped by that old amphitheater! How cool is that?!

Avenches is about 120 km, or 75 miles, from Geneva. Google suggests that the drive should be an hour and a half, but Jody decides to take the back roadsa more scenic route. Her staff marks some roads that will give her good views, while still being drivable. The wind whips her shoulder-length hair as she drivesshe must have gotten a hair cut, because when Farris first introduced her he described her hair as long.

Jody has her hair tied back in a scarf so that she can see as she drives, and that leads her to muse about men, because if she were in the passenger seat she could let her hair loose entirely. The problem, it seems, is that the only young attractive guys in Geneva are the help. Her peersthe other diplomatsare all old, balding men.

No really, look at how Farris says this:

Oh, there were plenty of men who were handsome in their own way, but they were mostly the hired help. The diplomats that were in her wider circle of friends were mostly paunchy, balding men whose intentions for her were usually suspect.

Color me skeptical. Why is she there, if everyone else is thirty years older than her? This feels like overkill, but for Farris, it serves a purpose. This way he can explain why Cooper is sticking in her mind. As she drives along, feeling lonely, she thinks of that carriage ride with him in New York City. Cooper, somehow, is the only handsome, available man Jody has ever met. Or something like that.

Anyway, as she drives she notices something. Its a white cargo van, just off the road. Its driver is standing outside the vehicle, talking on a cell phoneuntil Jody comes into view. As soon as she passes, he hops into his van and floors the accelerator, following her. Jody starts to panic.

Probably a coincidence, she wanted to believe. But diplomatic training had encouraged her to be alert to such behavior because of terrorism and kidnappings.

Im curious how typical it is for an ambassador to travel the backgrounds like this without a bodyguard. Jody does have one, she just dismissed him for a day. Or is the danger to ambassadors exaggerated, more a subject of superhero movies than reality? Either way, Jody is now worried.

A bit further on, Jody passes a small village. A man in a business suitthe only one so dressedwas standing near the road looking under the hood of a gleaming black Mercedes that seemed to have mechanical troubles.

Her own Mercedes appeared to possess some kind of recuperative power for its sister vehicle, for as soon as she passed by, the hood was quickly closed and the stalled cars engine started at once.

Now Jody is really spooked. She decides to skip Avenches and instead go to Murten, a slightly larger town close to Avenches, for lunch. More people seems safer.

She parks and eats at a restaurant. Farris travelogs are interesting as always, by the waytheyre written such that you almost feel that you could use them as a guidebook.

She turned left at the cooperative grocery store up the hill, inside the walls of the town. Normally, the center street was off limits to those from outside the town, but her diplomatic license plants would result in a waiver of all such formalities. She parked in front of the store with a large green cross, the European symbol of an apothecary. But it was the restaurant just to the left to which she headed. A public place seemed safest for the moment.

It reads like a scavenger hunt.

In fact. Let me check something google maps  is there a way you could arrive at Murtens outskirts, turn left at a cooperative grocery store, and then go up a hill and into the walled down  and  OH MY GOD.

Cool cool cool.

I bet theres not a restaurant to the left of an apothecary with a green cross, located on the main road on the center street within the walled city and  OH MY GOD THERE IS.

But I digress. And Ill let my readers see if they can trace Jodys next steps. Here is how Farris describes them:

She asked her waitress in French if there were a way to walk along the top of the wall without going back out into the center street. The waitress brought her busboy, who was willing to take her through the kitchen, down an alley, and up a hidden set of stairs.  She walked north toward the gate opposite from where she had entered. A large, medieval clock tower guarded that entrance to the town.  The small lake lay off to her left. Fields with cattle and a few sheep nodded the there or four kilometers between the city wall and the waters edge. To her right there was a clear view of the center street and the storefronts along the side opposite her restaurant.  She walked slowly toward the clock tower. Every car, every store, and every person got her careful review. There were no footsteps on the wooden wall save her own. As she approached the clic tower, the wall curved sharply to the right, affording her for the first time a view of the open highway to the north of town. She looked carefully up the road, and even though she tried to convince herself that she was mistaken, the big Mercedes and the white van were parked on opposite sides of the highway facing north and south respectively. Their drivers were about three feet apart standing in front of the van, both talking on their cell phones.

Here, I think, Farris is simply misremembering. Or maybe he miswrote. According to google maps, the big highway is south of town, not north of town. Regardless, Im left somewhat confused. Why would the cars, if they are indeed following Jody, be guarding the big highway, when she came on back roads? That seems somewhat inept.

Satisfied of the other cars location, Jody heads back to her own car to begin her trip home.

She hit the accelerator hard as soon as she reached the main highway heading south just past the grocery. No sign of either the van or the Mercedes. She decided that the freeway might be a wiser choice for her return. Five minutes off a feeder road she merged into the three blains headed for Geneva.

The main highway must mean the back road she came in on, which is indeed reached by heading south just past the grocery. The freeway must be the big highway where she saw the cars that were tailing her. Presumably she enters that road already past where the cars are waiting for herthis would be in keeping with her descriptions and the map, and for her to enter where those cars wereknowing they were therewould be bizarre.

Why did the men tailing Jody wait on the highway, which she did not take, rather than by the road she came in on? Why didnt Farris description of Jodys decision to take the highway on the way back include some explanation of her decision to take the very road that was being watched? Why didnt he at least assure readers that she was entering that highway out of those cars view, and not walking directly into a troops he knew was there?

At this point I find myself inclined to think that Jody only imagined that those cars were tailing hereither they were tailing someone else, or theyre the most inept tails ever. But when she gets back to her office, this happens:

A note was strategically placed in the center of her otherwise empty desk. Hope you enjoyed your ride. Murten is beautiful this time of year. She had told her staff she was going to Avenches. How would anyone know about Murten?

Thats definitely suspicious. Very suspicious.

Jody found the hand righting oddly familiar. Following up on a hunch, she pulled out a note Erzabet Kadar had written, welcoming her to Geneva.

The handwriting matched perfectly.

What!?

So, to recap. Erzabet Kadar didnt even know that Jody was going to Avenches. Those men, then, were hers. They told Erzabet where Jody went, and Erzabet wrote Jody a note before she returned, to creep her the freak out.

Whats Erzabets game here? At this point, Jody has been nothing but loyal to the goals of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. She did question whether the extreme case was the one to start with, and she was standoffish about the idea of seducing Cooperbut in each case, when overruled, she dutifully followed the plan.

It feels like Farris watched a bunch of James Bond movies and read a bunch of novels about the Illuminati and then concluded that any story involving a U.N. treaty had to involve Eastern Europeans, car chases, and cryptic threats.

All of this might be overlooked if the story hes telling actually held together. But it doesnt.

Scene change!

Back to the U.S., and back to our hearty band of heroes. It seems Judge Holman signed an order making the stay against the social workers permanent, so Rick and Deanna are having everyone involved in the caseincluding Coopers secretary, Nancy, and her nine-year-old granddaughterover for a cookout in celebration. Fun!

We start with a heavy dose of sexism.

In celebration, Rick wanted to cook dinner for everyone. That is what he told people, but his definition of cooking dinner was barbecuing the hamburgers. Deanna fixed the potato salad, the fruit salad, sliced and sweetened fresh strawberries to go with the ice cream, and prepared the lettuce, onions, and other condiments. She even took the raw hamburger meat and shaped it into patties so her husband could cook dinner for everyone. But she was glad to be home, and she didnt mind in the least.

Cool.

When Cooper arrives Laura isnt out there. He doesnt feel like he can ask about her, so he takes Rick outside to show off his car, so that hell be near the driveway and will be able to see when Laura arrives.

Because apparently its still middle school.

It was a sunny day, and he wanted to make sure that his friend saw how the color looked under such conditions.

Or so he told himself.

Just as Rick was dutifully looking under the hoodyup, the engine was still therethey heard the sound of a car slowing on the gravel road in front of the Thomas home and turning into the driveway. It was Terry Pipkins burgundy Grand Am, and there were two people inside.

Despite Terrys storming out the other day, he and Laura are still together. Awkwardly so.

This section does give us the sentence that feels most real to me, out of this entire book:

As they were finishing, Emily and Kristen called Jeanne and Nancy outside to watch a trick they had learned to do on the trampoline.

So. Real.

This is as close as we get to a universal of childhoodMom! Dad! Let me show you this thing I just figured out how to do! In contrast to that disastrous Layton scene, this simple sentence makes me believe Farris is a father.

When Jeanne and Nancy go out side, Deanna pounces on Laura and asks her whats going on. Laura and Terry, it seems, are acting odd. Deanna correctly surmises that the sore spot is Cooper. Detective Deanna is on the case!

Unfortunately, Deannas sleuthing is interrupted by a phone calla New York Times reporter trying to get ahold of Cooper and wondering whether Rick and Deanna have his home number. As luck would have it, Rick and Deanna have the man himself in their backyard! Deanna calls Cooper in to take the phone.

Im on deadline for a story for tomorrows paper. I want to ask you a couple of questions about your UN case if I may. Sure, shoot, Cooper replied. The area of inquiry concerns how you are being paid for the case. Cooper suddenly froze. Yes? he responded cautiously. Well, to get to the point, are your fees being paid by Randall Wasson, the associate publisher of the Washington Star?

Uh oh.

Now where would you hear something like that, Mr. Gilmore? Besides, my clients havent authorized me to talk about their financial obligations.

You could have started with your second statement, Cooper.

Cooper refuses to say anything more, but he knows the jig is up. Randall, after all, told Cooper that if anyone started poking around and connecting him with the lawsuit, his funding of the case would dry up immediately.

I cant imagine how he found that out, Cooper remarked. Well, I didnt tell him, Deanna said quickly.

Maybe its just me, but that reaction makes Deanna look rather guilty. And she should feel guilty. She was the leak. Or rather, Terry was the leakIll go ahead and spoil that for you nowand it was Deanna who told Terry. Cooper said tell no one and Deanna turned around and told both Laura and Terry. But no! Deanna says she couldnt be the leak! Certainly not! Not her!

There were only five people other than Mr. Wasson and me who knew this, and they are all here, Cooper said slowly. He stopped and turned to Deanna. Laura told me that you let this fact slip out in some conversation. I dont mind that much your telling her. Just as long as neither of you told anyone else. No, no, not a soul, Deanna replied, with a clear conscience. Laura knew she should remind Deanna that Terry was also in the room when the matter had been discussed initially, but she just couldnt bear the thought of another fight erupting between the two of them. And she had warned Terry to not let it inadvertently slip out. Cooper, I want you to know that I have not told a soul about this, Laura promised him.

Laura! Just tell him!

Also, if Laura needed any further evidence that her relationship with Terry was unhealthy, the fact that shes letting her fear of his reacting badly mess up this lawsuit ought to provide that evidence.

I promise you that I didnt tell anyone, Laura said, as if she was begging him to believe her.

There is some serious lying by omission going on here.

Cooper calls everyone in, and when he notices that Terrys there too he summarily dispatches him.

Terry, I hate to be rude, but we need to have a very confidential meeting for just a couple minutes. Maybe you could help Nancy and Fred in the backyard with the kids. Terry said nothing but stared at Laura. He then walked out without a word, glaring at her.

And still Laura doesnt tell Cooper. You would think that having Terry in the room would be, you know, importantafter all, the question is whether anyone who knew about Randall Wasson let anything slip, and Terry knew. He needs to be asked. But Laura is keeping mum. And Deanna is either hiding it too, or has honestly forgotten.

Lets run down the secrets people are keeping in this book.

1. Laura is hiding the fact that Deanna told Terry about Randall Wasson funding the case.

2. Cooper is hiding the fact that he kissed Jody and went on a romantic ride with her.

3. Deanna is hiding the fact that she spanked Layton, violating a court order in the process.

Fun.

Cooper asks whether any of those in the room told anyone about Randall Wasson. They all deny it.

A thought suddenly hit Cooper. Did I ever send you an e-mail about Mr. Wasson? he asked. No, several voices said at once. Why? Its just that e-mails are not truly confidential over the Internet, he replied. But if I didnt send one, no problem.

Really? Really Cooper??

He hasnt told them that his email has been hacked. This mattersand it matters a lotbecause it means they dont know that they need to avoid sending him emails containing confidential information. This is a very serious problem. Cooper is jeopardizing the entire case, and I dont for the life of me understand why.

It seems we need to add to our list:

4. Cooper is hiding the fact that his email has been hacked.

So, what is to be done? Cooper says all he can think is to go back to the Center for Constitutional Litigation, the libertarian group that had offered to take the case off of Coopers hands.

The only thing I can think of is to go back to the Center for Constitutional Litigation and ask them to take the case. I know of no other way to raise the money at this stage of the case.

Really? Really Cooper?

Okay, lets add to our list again:

5. Cooper is hiding the fact that he could call Concerned Women for America for funding.

Cooper is a terrible lawyer.

In the car on the way home, Laura asks Terry if he told anyone about Randall Wasson. He forcefully denies telling anyone, but is very gratified when Laura tells him that Cooper will probably be off the case after this.

Do you know who Terry reminds me of? He reminds me of Gwens ex-husband in Farris last book. And thats interesting. In each book, Farris has his main character fall for a woman who is ambiguously taken, and in each case, the other man who makes claims on this woman is petulant, dishonest, and insecure about his masculinity.

Its basically the same storyline.

And here the chapter ends. Each character maintains his secret. At this point, Terry, too, has secrets. Hes double dealing and doing anything possible to get Laura away from Coopereven if that means sabotaging the case.

Tune in next time, to see how many lies and half truths our intrepid band of heroes can add to this tangled web!

I have a Patreon! Please support my writing!
Audio Attachment:

Ghanaian Pilot, Captain Solomon Nana Kwakye Quainoo has urged the youth not to give up on their life ambitions but work hard to make it a reality.



Being a typical example of a bigger fulfilling dream, Captain Solomon Quainoo believed everything is achievable so far as one stays focused and determined.



Captain Quainoo was in the studios of Peace FM Thursday to recount the sequence of his historic journey to success after flying the world's largest aircraft to Accra on Tuesday, October 2, 2018.



He made history as the first Ghanaian to fly the world's largest passenger airliner, Emirates A380.



He shared on the station's flagship programme "Kokrokoo" some struggles he went through before becoming a Pilot.



He noted that his passion to pursue piloting began at the age of six and since then, he has always stayed focused on his dream.



According to him, he came from a poor family background and anytime he told his friends about his wild dream to be a Pilot, they would ridicule him but he kept his faith .



Since the age of six, I made up my mind to fly a plane. When I said that, everybody laughed at me because I was coming from a poor family. My mother and father didnt have money; so my friends laughed at me saying Im not serious, he said.



He also recounted a moment he nearly gave up because his attempts to gain admission into the Ghana Air Force to do a piloting course after completing Koforidua Secondary Technical School failed.



"....i was indeed demoralized following my inability to be enrolled into the Air Force. A friend picked up and filled forms on my behalf so i could go to the University of Ghana where i offered Mathematics and Physics before travelling to the United Kingdom doing menial jobs to save money to pursue my dream," he narrated.



In spite of the bustle and hustle he was compelled to go through in life, he never lost his passion but held on to see light at the end of the tunnel.



He successfully gained an opportunity to work with the British Airways before proceeding later to join Emirates where he has been working for seven years as Captain.



Speaking in an exclusive interview with the host Kwami Sefa Kayi, Captain Quainoo urged Ghanaians to be inspired by his achievement and know that with "determination and staying focused to what you want to do, the help will come. If you stay truthful and with clear conscience, the help will come; you dont even have to fight for itThey should stay focused, determined and keep going because at certain times, they will feel frustrated. They might think maybe people are leaving them behind but once you stay focused, determined and keep at it; they can always become what they want to be.



Video below:





Audio Attachment:

About Captain Quainoo



Captain Solomon Nana Kwakye Quainoo is the first to fly the world's largest passenger airliner, Emirates A380.



He holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, Physics and Geology from the University of Ghana and a Master of Engineering degree in Aerospace, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Kingston University in the United Kingdom.



He got his first pilot task with British Midland international and worked with British Airways where he flew the Boeing 737, 300, 400 and 500 series among others.



He's spent the last 7 years with Emirates serving as first officer (for his first 5 years) before being promoted to Captain.

Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The Ambassador of the Italian Republic to Ghana, His Excellency Giovanni Favilli, paid a courtesy call on the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hon. Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey on Wednesday, October 3, 2018.



The main purpose of the visit was to inform the Minister about the upcoming Second Edition of the Italy-Africa Ministerial Conference to be held in Italy on October 25, 2018.



Hon. Ayorkor Botchwey called for closer ties in deepening the long standing relations between Ghana and Italy, for the mutual benefit of both countries.



Ambassador Giovanni Favilli indicated that his countrys bilateral relations with Ghana has been growing from strength to strength.



He added that Italian companies have played a key role in Ghanas development and disclosed that there is a significant number of Ghanaians currently living in Italy who contribute towards the development of both Italy and Ghana.



Speaking on the upcoming Second Edition of the Italy-Africa Ministerial Conference, which will be organized by Italys Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Giovanni Favilli said the Conference is a sign of Italys commitment towards Africa.



He intimated that it would focus on economic growth, peace and security and human development.



He added that bilateral meetings would be held on the sidelines of the Conference to give a further boost to relations between Italy and African Countries.



"An exhibition of contemporary Africa will also be mounted during the conference," he said.





Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Suspended General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, Kwabena Agyapong has given a chilling account of how his father, Justice Kwadwo Agyei Agyapong was abducted by some unidentified assailants on the night of July 30, 1982.



Narrating how it all happened in a JoyNews Special Documentary titled Who killed the Judges detailing the brutal murders of Justice Cecilia Koranteng-Addow, Justice Fred Poku Sarkodie, Justice Kwadwo Agyei Agyapong and Major Sam Acquah, Mr. Agyaong said he was 19 when the incident occurred.



While writing a letter in the living room on that fateful night, Kwabena Agyapong said he heard knocks on the door.



He said visitors came in looking for his father with a concocted story that one Aunty Ceccy was not well and had been rushed to the Ridge Hospital for treatment and that Justice Kwadwo Agyei Agyapongs presence was needed since her (Aunty Ceccys) husband was unavailable.



There was a curfew but strange as it was, seeing the visitors at that ungodly hour, Justice Kwadwo Agyei Agyapong did not hesitate to follow them to the hospital. Clad in white shorts and singlet, he wore his native slippers and rushed out with the visitors to see the supposed sick woman.



Kwabena Agyapong said he continued writing his letter when his father left and later went to bed only to wake up the next day to realise his father had been abducted.



We were not to notice that he didnt come home. I just went and slept so it was only in the morning that we heard a loud knock on the door and it was coming from our next door neighbours and that happened to be Justice Poku Sarkodies wife. So the wife came to inform my dad that last night the husband had been picked and she saw them but I think they argued a bit and they were able to take her husband away. So I didnt even get it so I rushed up to my fathers bedroom to go and tell him what has happened, when I got to the bedroom he wasnt there, he narrated.



So I went to my mothers room and I said where is Daddy? And she said, he should be asleep and I said hes not there. I went downstairs and the food remained the same way he left it; not finished eating, nobody has touched it, so we were confused. Then I also run out of the house and went to Justice Aduseis house which is just across. So it is when I got to Justice Aduseis house that he confirmed, he called Justice Akpalu who was then a Chief Justice at the time. So it was then that we realised there was something serious happening that some three judges had been picked the previous night. So nobody knew that he didnt come back so we found out only the next morning that was when we thought theyve been missing and theyve been abducted so it was a very long four or so days. Thursday, Friday, Saturday till Sunday that there was an official announcement that this has happened, Kwabena Agyapong said as he tried hard to withhold his tears.



About Justice Kwadwo Agyei Agyapong



Justice Kwadwo Agyei Agyapong was born at Oyoko in November 1926. Went to Mfantsipim in 1942, had a bachelor of law degree at the Kings College in 1958 and called to Inner Temple in 1960.



He was elevated to the position of High Court judge in 1977.



He was married to Comfort Agyapong and had 10 children. His last child was 3 months when he was abducted.



Background



Thirty-six years ago on June 30, 1982, three high court judges  Justices Fred Poku Sarkodee, Cecilia Koranteng-Addow and Kwadwo Agyei Agyepong, as well as a retired Army Officer, Major Sam Acquah  were abducted at night during the curfew hours.



Their partly burnt bodies were found on July 3, 1982 in a state of decomposition at the Bundase Military Range on the Accra Plains. The bodies had been doused with petrol and set on fire but by divine intervention, raindrops that night quenched the burning bodies before they were discovered.



The defunct Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), headed by Flt Lt Jerry John Rawlings, which publicly expressed horror at the crime and yielded to strong public pressure, set up a Special Investigation Board (SIB) with a former Chief Justice of Ghana, Justice Samuel Azu Crabbe, as chairman, to investigate the murders.



The inquiry is noted for the courage and professional expertise of its main investigator, J.J. Yidana, an officer of the Ghana Police Service. The SIB submitted its report and was published along with a Government White Paper.



The SIB made a number of findings, leading to the prosecution of Joachim Amartey Kwei, a member of the PNDC; L/Cpls Samuel Amedeka; Samuel Michael Senyah; Johnny Dzandu and Tekpor, who are ex-soldiers.



For the past 36 years, the Bar and the Bench have been mourning the death of the martyrs of the rule of law.

Source: ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, which is currently in the Central Region for the mapping of concessions owned by small-scale miners as part of the vetting process, have discovered that there are about 700 ghost mining concessions across the country.



According to the Committee, out of the 1,350 small-scale mining licences that had been issued to the miners nationwide, only 650 of them reported when the committee members moved to the field to map and ascertain whether indeed the 1,350 concessions exist.



To our surprise only 650 small-scale miners reported when we went to the field for the mapping of the concessions which means that there are about 700 ghost concessions in the mining areas across Ghana, the committee pointed out.



They continued it means that either people have mined them up and taken the gold out of the country without paying anything to the state or someone was negligent in issuing out the licences.



The Inter-Ministerial Committee on Mining has been tasked to vet the registered small-scale miners across the country in a bid to regularize their operations before making recommendations to President Akufo-Addo to lift the ban on small-scale mining.



This was after the committee, chaired by Prof. Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, held a press briefing to unveil the roadmap towards the lifting of the ban.



Charles Onuawonto Bissue, Presidential Staffer & Secretary to the InterMinisterial Committee on Illegal Mining, in interview with DAILY GUIDE, mentioned that following the approval of the roadmap towards lifting of the ban on small-scale mining by Cabinet, the President directed the committee to outline details of the roadmap to the general public.



So we started the vetting process on September 23, 2018 which included receiving the 1,350 small-scale mining licences that are in existence



After that the team had to go on the field to map or ascertain those licences to ensure that those concessions exist because that had been the problem, he indicated.



He told DAILY GUIDE that the Minerals Commission had issued licences, which do not correspond with the concessions on the field.



So we were expecting 1,350 small-scale mining concessions on the field but only 650 of the miners had reported, he pointed out.



He indicated that the committee would resort to the use of drones to monitor illegal mining activities in the country.



Mr. Bissue added that the drone pilots had been trained, adding the military personnel fighting illegal mining would receive their drones next week.







The Ban



Following the widespread destruction of water resources and forest reserves as a result of the activities of illegal miners, government, in January 2017, placed a ban on small-scale mining for six months.



The ban was, however, extended in October 2017 for another three months, which ended in January 2018, but it still remains in force.



The committee, therefore, issued a statement setting out a comprehensive roadmap.







Operation Vanguard



Operation Vanguard, the security taskforce put together by government to fight small-scale miners, said it had chalked successes in its operations so far.



The anti-galamsey taskforce was deployed to three regions- Ashanti, Western and Eastern- to help sustain the fight against illegal mining.





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
The Bois de Vincennes, a sprawling park on the outskirts of eastern Paris, is home to horse riding schools and a zoo. It has also been part-commandeered by human traffickers and sex slaves, 80 percent of whom are Nigerian women.



The sex slaves are brought from various African countries, but the majority of them are Nigerians, and made to stand by the park, waiting for customers. At the end of the day, they return the money they made to their traffickers.



9 out of 10 women in the park are not free women. They belong to a network of human traffickers. The women have no identity and no means of escaping their predicament for several reasons.



Most of them are made to take an oath before leaving Nigeria. They are also branded on their skin by their traffickers, then transported to Europe like a "bag of fruits." Most have no means of starting a new life because their ID's have been seized by their traffickers. They also fear what could happen to them if they leave as a result of the oath they took, so they remain slaves to their traffickers.



Selling sex is reportedly not a crime in Paris but buying is. Hence, these women freely line the streets in very revealing outfits, waiting for men who need their services. At the end of the day, they remit all the money made to their traffickers.



When prison police were asked how this could be allowed to continue, they told CNN there simply isn't very much they can do. The women are afraid to talk to them because of the networks and they say they're moved around Europe very often. Also, there is an apparently never-ending supply of women from Nigeria desperate to go to Europe. They also added that "as soon as you dismantle a group, it only lasts, at most, 24 hours" because a vacuum is created for another network of human traffickers to set up.



Watch the video below.





Source: CNN









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
Former Kumasi Mayors, Kojo Bonsu says he was approached by some kingpins in the NDC to contest for the partys chairmanship position.



But according to him, upon introducing the unity walk following the partys embarrassing defeat in the 2016 election - the masses thought he could be a fine gentleman to lead the NDC in the next election.



When I started the Unity Walks I went around talking to people and even a lot of the party bigwigs thought I should be the chairman of the party. But listening to the people on the ground and they are the people we are going to serve, they told me: why dont you have a shot at the big one?



It is not one place, everywhere Im being told to go for the shot and if people are pleading that I go for the shot and they think you have the acumen, the strength and the experience to run for government, why do you look at them and say no? the Flagbearer hopeful said in an interview with Starr FM.



Many are against Mr Bonsus decision to contest the flagbearership but he said he wants to see an NDC that actively puts in place programmes to empower its members like the current branch education programme that aims to turn the regions into a force for victory.



He noted that under his leadership, the NDC would transform and revive the countrys ailing economy.

Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/ Twitter: @Washman5/ Instagram: Ambrose_wash









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
Former President John Dramani Mahama has said the New Patriotic Party government has been exposed with regards to the reality of lives of Ghanaians.



Mr Mahama accused the ruling government of engaging in and telling lies to win political party.



The former President tweeted, You can engage in, and tell all the lies to win political power, when you are in government the reality of peoples lives will expose you.



In August, 2018, Mr. Mahama declared his intention to run as Flagbearer for the largest opposition National Democratic Congress(NDC).



The former Ghanaian leader made his intention clear when he presented his letter to the party hierarchy informing them of his decision.



Mr. Mahama is the seventh person to declare his candidature in the NDC top job.



He joins the likes of the Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, former CEO of NHIA, Sylvester Mensah, the poor boy from Binduri, Stephen Atubiga, Prof. Joshua Alabi, Dr. Ekow Spio-Garbrah, Hon. Kweku Ricketts-Hagan and Elikplim Agbemava to contest the vacant flagbearer position of the party.



The NDC goes to the polls on December 7, 2018 to elect a flagbearer.













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
Opposition NDC Flagbearer, Goozie Tanoh has said he has plans of making Ghana the most powerful economic country in West Africa when hes elected the President of Ghana.



According to him, hell industrialize Ghana to make its economy strong and independent of aid from the West and Asia.



Mr Tanoh joins the likes the likes of the former President of the Republic, John Dramani Mahama, Hon. Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, Sylvester Mensah, Stephen Atubiga, Kweku Ricketts-Hagan, Dr. Ekow Spio-Garbrah, Goosie Tanoh, among some others to beat when the party goes to the polls in December 7 to elect their flagbearer for elections 2020.



My dream for Ghana is to be the most powerful economic force in West Africa per capita because I believe if you look at the current crisis in international trade led by the trade war that is occurring between China and US, the problems within the EU itself anti immigration, problems with trade, the world is changing in a way that we cannot gauge at the moment.



What is happening now is that theres a new nationalism and right wing emergent tendencies in the West that do not favour us as Africa as third world economies. If were smart as Asian countries well begin then to consolidate and concretize the vision of ECOWAS and begin to expand our trade links coverage, Goozie Tanoh told Bola Ray on Starr Chat.

Source: kasapafmonline.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
Former Kumasi Mayor and flagbearer aspirant of the National Democratic Congress Kojo Bonsu has rejected claims that he is relying on his Ashanti roots to gain influence in the party.



Former President Rawlings in a comment on Mr. Bonsus presidential bid praised his Ashanti background noting it was healthy for the partys image.



Not only is he a leading, active, prominent member of the party, but the very fact that hes an Ashanti for me is quite refreshing. Some of our narrow-minded colleagues from the past did not handle the Ashanti factor well enough. The Akan speaking areas of Ashanti provided a very dynamic presence during the revolution days, Rawlings said.



In a radio interview on Accra based Starrfm on Thursday, the business magnate said he is running the race on his own merit and not his ethnic affiliation.



Im not playing the card of being from Ashanti or an Ashanti, Im here because of the democracy in the party and so the delegates will decide. Rawlings has made his statement and thats him, he stressed.



The former Mayor also denied rumors that he has fallen out with former President Mahama.



I have great respect for John mahama, I have chalked successes with him. But the issue is about democracy in the party and the future of the party. Because if Mahama is not there then who leads the party, so its not about him or anyone.



On whether he was angling to be running mate to Mr. Mahama, he said: I dont think so, running mate is the prerogative of the flagbearer, so if John Mahama does not think Kojo is cut to be his running mate; what are you talking about.



Bonsu also denied suggestions that he is on bad terms with the Ashanti monarch Otumfuo.



Otumfuo is my first cousin, we have a very good relationship, we are brothers as we Asantes call it. I worship the stool, so, the greatest respect goes to Otumfuo and Manhyia. It isnt true that I have problems with Otumfuo or Manhyia. [Otumfuo] is somebody that I respect and worship, so, its not true. Yes, I had problems with some of his sub-chiefs but Otumfuo was not involved in this matter.

Source: Daily Graphic









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Former Rwandan Presidential aspirant Diane Rwigara has been freed. The businesswoman and her mother were granted bail during a High Court hearing in Kigali on Friday, 5th of October 2018.



According to Rwanda Today, the three-judge panel gave the verdict after concluding that the prosecution did not have credible reasons why the Rwigaras should remain in custody during their trial.



Reacting to the court verdict, Rwigaras brother Arioste Rwigara told CNN, We are overjoyed by this great news! We had faith this day would come soon. We thank God for it, and we are forever grateful to family, friends and all the other people who remained close to us during this hard time and showed us support.



Diana and her mother, Adeline were arrested in September 2017 on allegations of insurrection. The news of their bail was met with massive celebration as supporters in the court house could not be controlled after the announcement.

Source: CNN









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
MBARARA The government of Uganda through the tourism ministry, wildlife and antiquities together with the Uganda Tourism Board have plans in the offing to ensure all tour guides in the tourism sector are professionals and certified.

Stephen Asimwe, the Chief Executive Officer Uganda Tourism Board made these remarks on Thursday morning at the Community education centre in Lake Mburo National park where 63 nature guides were passed out.

He noted that the tour guiding is a very big phenomenon that needs specialized guiding, especially in the bird species since Uganda has the largest bird species on the African continent.

He said that they have so far 700 registered guides who included generalized birders, specialized birders and site guides.

Its under the mandate of Ministry of Tourism, wildlife and antiquities and UTB as stipulated in the Tourism Act 2008 that we should have registered and certified guides under their known associations and we are proposing in the next review of the Act that any person to handle tourists must be registered and certified. So we want to look at the qualitative number rather than quantitative and we shall enforce it, said Asimwe.

Asimwe was the chief guest standing in for Prof Ephraim Kamuntu, the tourism minister.

He further asked tour guides to refrain themselves from getting involved in the countrys politics saying this negatively impacts on the tourism sector. We emphasize that these guides be none partisan, whatever political views you have, leave them at home, the client you receive has nothing to do with the politics of the country since it biases clients.

He said that tourist attraction hinges much on the first and lasting impression which entirely depends on the conduct and behaviors of guides who are supposed to create an enabling environment for the tourists to keep them coming.

Paul Ninsima, the sales Manager Uganda Wild Life Authority who represented the ED UWA noted that they have partnered up with private sectors in ensuring that they work with more organized groups that are professionals since guides are the first people to talk to tourists.

Evelyn Gakinyeza; one of the tour guides who was passed out said that they have been equipped with the skills in guiding, especially in birding, ecology and customer care.

However, she called upon the Uganda Wildlife Authority administration to always organize such training to help them better their work.

Related
KAMPALA Communications sector regulator Uganda Communications Commissions (UCC) on Wednesday organized an ICT symposium to benchmark two decades of streamlining one of the fastest growing sectors in Uganda.

UCC was established by the Uganda Communications Act 1997 which was later amended and consolidated in 2013. UCC achievements at 20 are really astonishing, but they could do better too.

The Commission has spent most of the journey from 1997 trying to find common ground where service providers and consumers prevail excellently. It was operating almost in the background for so many years. The last 3 years have put the UCC under so much public focus. The commission called 2018 a transformative year after it passed on so many directives.

According to Godfrey Mutabazi, the executive director UCC, in the coming years, UCCs new focus is going to be on training the youth, the new generation of Uganda to ensure they are able to understand these emerging technologies and take advantage of the associated entrepreneur opportunities.

We have already undertaken innovations to help the youth gain from the digital migration. We have been supporting ICT innovations and distributing computers in schools. All these are intended to help in creating job opportunities for the youth, Mutabazi noted on Tuesday.

As the body that is mandated to undertake a range of functions including implementation of rural communications development and capacity building, policy advice, content empowerment, and many others, UCC is determined to fulfill its mandate in helping Uganda in benefiting from digital evolution.

UCC since interception developed a robust communications sector including capacity building of local content developers and exhibitors, also in determining price comparative websites for comparative information.

The commission has also registered growth in Mobile and fixed subscriptions grew from less than 50,000 active lines in 1996 to 24 million in 2018, according to statics shared by Ibrahim Bbosa, the consumer affairs manager at UCC.

MTN Ugandas Chief Executive Officer Wim VanHelleputte at Munyonyo Speke Resort as UCC celebrated its 20 years of regulating the sector, told this website that the Best decision UCC has so far made this year is directing the use of Biometrics for SIMcard registration and verification.

He also commended UCC for attracting global brands in the market including Huawei, Ericsson, MTN Uganda, Vodafone (left), Airtel Uganda, Liquid/Infocom, Simbanet/Wanainchi Group and Multichoice.

Other multinationals include Star Times, DHL, FEDEX, Smile Communications, Google, Seacom, UTL, Kwese TV, Nation Medi Group and Azam Television.

President Yoweri Museveni in a speech read by Vice-president Edward Ssekandi noted that in 1996, the government adopted a policy to increase penetration through privatization rather than government intervention.

We only had UTL and MTN. But the last few years have seen growth in both fixed and mobile telephone subscribers to 21 million from 28,000, said Museveni.

He explained that the liberalized communications sector has made it possible for Ugandans to enjoy new technologies through private investment, he emphasized, adding, Currently, the national coverage of 3G technology stands at 70 percent.

Mr Houlin Zhao, the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunications Union, applauded UCC for promoting the ICT sector and for making Uganda compete with first world countries.

Through an innovative licensing regime, Uganda is recognised for lowering market entry barriers and increasing consumer choice, and one of the very few countries worldwide that were able to improve ICT global rankings 5 places upwards on the ICT ranking index, he observed.

According to UCC, Uganda leads the continent in having the most liberalized broadcasting industry with about 292 licensed FM radios and over 35 Television stations.

There are more than 40 Free  To  Air TV channels and the completion of Analogue to Digital Migrations need mention in spite of a few challenges.

The country also enjoys more than 90 percent population coverage with basic cellular network signal and now considering national roaming that will further improve the same.

UCC in June this year revealed that by 2020 they target to have the entire country on the internet.

Broadband width in Uganda is at 40 percent for urban areas and 15 percent for rural areas. Uganda targets 100 percent urban connectivity and 50 percent rural internet connectivity by 2020, said Irene Kaggwa, the UCC Director Engineering, Communications, and Infrastructure, as she launched a 5-day satellite workshop at Pearl of Africa Hotel in Kampala.

Africa cannot be left behind in the new communication dimension for the internet of big data, artificial intelligence and how to leverage ICTs. Where is Africa in this? she asked.

UCC says that there are over 22 million Mobile Money accounts and a network of more than 160,000 Mobile Money agents countrywide.

There has been a consistent drop in end-user communication tariffs over the last 15 year and increased innovation in services and products. To date Mobile Network Operators provide a diversified portfolio in voice, data, Mobile Money and Value added services, Bbosa explained to this website.

He further explained that this comes at the back of an innovative licensing regime, prudent monitoring, inspection, supervision, control and regulation.

Challenges

Many may fault it for some of these directives such as SIM card sale ban, blocking some live TV broadcasts, closing some radio and TV stations and turning off counterfeit phones.

A day before President Museveni was inaugurated for another five-year term, access to social media platforms including Whatsapp, Facebook and Twitter was blocked on instructions of the regulator, UCC.

The directive came less than three months after a four-day blockage initiated on Election Day (February 18, 2016) that drew local and international condemnation.

On May 11, internet service providers in the country used social media to inform their customers of the second instruction issued by the communications regulator.

They indicated that the regulator had cited national security as the reason for the shutdown. The present social media blockage comes on the heels of a May 5 ban on live media coverage of opposition-led activities in protest against what they consider the rigged re-election of Museveni.

Since May 3, 2016, journalists and artists decried the declining state of freedom of expression at the national celebrations to mark World Press Freedom Day.

Related
KAMPALA The Leader of the opposition in Parliament, Hon Betty Aol Ocan, will embark on a countrywide tour aimed at uniting the opposition in and outside Parliament.

MP Aol Ocan who was appointed two months ago says she had planned to carry out the tour but was disrupted by circumstances that surrounded the Arua municipality by-election.

The LOP revealed this after she paid a courtesy visit to the Democratic Party (DP) President, Mr Nobert Mao.

Aol Ocan applauded DP for the assurance to work with her office saying, I am grateful for the love that DP has shown me today. I know I will be stronger with the support to all parties.

Mr Mao, recognizing the need for unity, stated, we are few; if we are scattered, we will be finished one by one. As DP, we reiterate our commitment with continued cooperation with FDC, the leading party in Parliament, to ensure unity of the Opposition.

Mao added that they would support the LOPs programme of nationwide engagement with Opposition political leaders and urged Aol Ocan to move fast.

We ask you to quickly meet Opposition Members of Parliament and all national opposition leaders to develop a joint agenda, he said adding that, we want to know which laws to amend and which programmes to focus on.

The LOP commended the Opposition MPs who voted in favour of the motion to scrap the mobile money tax saying, the people who look at the people-centered agenda in Parliament are largely Members of the Opposition; I am not saying the ruling party doesnt represent people but they are a few.

On whether the opposition is ready for a sole candidate in 2021, Aol Ocan said it is an immature discussion within the opposition.

I am for unity in diversity. If fronting one candidate is desirable, then there is possibility for such a discussion, she said.

Related
KAMPALA- The National Water and Sewerage Corporation has revealed plans to boost water supply reliability in Kyanja, Gayaza, Kawempe, Ttula, Namere, parts of Kyaliwajjala and the surrounding areas.

The announcement was made by the Kampala Water General Manager Eng Andrew Sekayizzi.

According to Eng Sekayizzi, the demand for services in the areas has gone up. He attributed this to the mushrooming developments in the city.

NWSC is committed to deliver clean safe water in all parts of Kampala and improve the lives of our people, he said.

Kampala Water Senior Manager Water Supply Eng Moses Bigabwa shared that the corporations network Engineers. Other works include:

A new Booster Pump at Mpererwe to serve Namere, Kawempe, Ttula and the areas.



Installation of a new water pump set at Kanyanya.



Laying a new transmission main from Kyanja TC to Kyanja Hill



Construction of a new pump house



Laying of 16km distribution mains from Kabulengwa Tank to Kakiri trading centre



Laying 10km pumping main from Bulenga booster to Kabulengwa Hill



Laying 2km pumping main from Kagoma to Matugga water tank



Laying 2km transmission main from Kinawa trading centre to Nakawuka



Laying 6km of transmission mains from Kisaasi to Kungu



Replacement of a section of 1.5km from Kyadondo Rugby Club to Moil Banda



Laying of 3km transmission main from Bulenga booster to Nakabugo tank

The system modifications will also address the water supply challenges in Gayaza area. Eng Bigabwa added.

NWSC MD Dr.Eng Silver Mugisha assured the city dwellers that the corporation is working on a number of water stabilization projects to stabilize water supply in the city.

We are working on projects in Nansana, Kabulengwa, Wakiso, a 5.6km of Pipeline from Ntinda to Kiira via Najjera to boost supply in parts of Kiira, Bulindo, Nsasa, Kiwologoma, Mulaawa among many others to improve water supply.

Other Projects

NWSC has also started works on the new 240million litres per day design Capacity Water Treatment Plant in the Eastern part of Kampala at Katosi.

The combined water production of Katosi and Ggaba Water Treatment Plants will cater for the growing demand for clean water services in the greater Kampala Metropolitan Area up to the year 2040.

Dr. Silver noted that such projects are also being implemented in other towns, notably; a new Water Works at Karuma and a new 70km bulk Transmission Main from Karuma to improve water supply in Gulu town, water supply stabilization plans in Kapchorwa, Sembabule, Masindi, Arua, Isingiro, Rakai, Bushenyi, Fort Portal, Moyo, Kotido, and Kaboong, among others.

Dr. Silver added that NWSC working with the Government of Uganda and the Ministry of water and Environment rolled out a new programme SCAP 100. (Service Coverage Acceleration Programme) to extend water services to over 12,000 villages in Uganda.

In addition, 140,000 new water connections, 20,000 public standpipes and over 8,000kms of water mains extensions will be installed by 2020 under the SCAP 100 programme.

In a bid to improve sanitation, the Corporation is working on the largest Sewage Treatment Plant in East and Central Africa at Bugolobi with the capacity to generate 630kw of power from Biogas, serve a population equivalent of 380,000 people and treat over 45million litres of wastewater from Nakivubo channel and Kampala city.

We shall not rest until we achieve 100% service coverage in Uganda. Out commitment towards service delivery is total, Dr Silver said.

Related
Embed from Getty Images

Boston Police Department K-9 "Rush" died on October 1st as a result of exposure to chemicals in late September. Rush and his handler were clearing a building after responding to reports of a burglary in progress, according to ODMP. During the search, Rush ingestedor inhaledtoxic chemicals that were present in the building. Rush then went into respiratory distress. Rush died at a veterinary hospital eight days after the incident.

K-9 "Fang"of the Jacksonville (FL) Sheriff's Office was fatally shot the previous daySeptember 30. The three-year-old German Shepard was killed while attempting to apprehend an armed carjacking suspect.

On September 1, Refugio County (TX) Sheriff's Office lost two treasured partnersK-9 "Grunt" and K-9 "Nell"when both dogs were strangled to death by a suspect they were tracking after 16 illegal immigrants fled into a marsh near the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge in Texas.

Nell and Gruntwho were trained to track at-risk missing personswere let off leash as deputies followed them on horseback, according to ODMP. The dogsnot trained to bite, but to track and find peoplereportedly located a suspect. Deputies entered the brush and took the subject into custody. Nell and Grunt were found with their tracking collars twisted tightly around their necks.

That's four police K-9 fatalities in one calendar month.

So far in 2018, ODMP has recorded 21 K-9 duty deaths. Four have been fatally shot. One was ejected from a patrol vehicle involved in a collision. Others have been struck by vehicles.

Two K-9s died in "hot cars" this year.

On July 28, K-9 "Turbo"of the Columbia (SC) Police Departmentwas euthanized as the result of heat exhaustion two days earlier. Turbo had been left in a police vehicle with its air conditioner on and its windows rolled down, but when the handler returned to the car, Turbo was showing signs of heat exhaustion.

Two days later, K-9 "Midas"of the Hancock County (WV) Sheriff's Officedied from complications of heat exhaustion suffered after the air conditioning and "failsafe unit" (designed to roll down the windows and activate an alarm if the air conditioner stopped) failed to activate in a patrol vehicle.

Thankfully, "hot car" K-9 duty deaths are down this year. Eight K-9s died from heat exhaustion last year. Twelve dogs died this way in 2016.

Two is a hell of a lot better than eight or twelvebut two is too many.

Invaluable Assets

It can cost up to $10,000 to purchase a police K-9, and another $20,000 in initial training before the animal can be put out on patrol. Then there is the annual upkeepfood, shelter, veterinary care, continued training, and whatnot.

Big money.

However, one cannot place a dollar value on a police K-9they embody the very definition of invaluable.

Police K-9s routinely help police officers return lost at-risk children to their homes. They find illegal narcotics. They sniff out hidden explosives. They apprehend fleeing fugitives.

Myriad law enforcement missions are accomplished with the assistance of a four-legged LEO.

For example, late last month, K-9 "Titan"with the Pasco County (FL) Sheriff's Officeapprehended a man in a wooded area who had reportedly climbed into a second-story window, grabbed a child, and fled.

In May, K-9 "Rye"with the West Covina (CA) Police Departmentsniffed out 60 pounds of methamphetamine on his very first day on active duty.

There are countless other examples of K-9sand their human handlersfighting crime on America's streets.

They are very definition of invaluable.

Protecting K-9s

Police K-9s need human help in protecting them from injury and/or death. This help primarily comes from the K-9 handler, but the department can have an enormous impact on K-9 safety.

For starters, departments can make budget dollars available for K-9 vests. Most officers don't have the resources necessary to purchase a bullet/stab resistant vest for their K-9 partners, so it should be an accepted related cost for the agency to fund those purchases.

If your department simply cannot make those funds available, check out Project Paws Alive, a 501(c) non-profit organization that helps to fund the purchase of K-9 vests. They also help agencies obtain K-9 first aid kits, cooling vests, and oxygen masks, and patrol vehicle heat alarms.

Speaking of vehicle heat alarms, the National Police Dog Foundation has a program that agencies can turn to for help in receiving grants for K-9 vehicle heat alarms.

SIDEBAR: The National Police Dog Foundation has myriad resources to help agencies start and maintain an excellent K-9 Unitfrom purchasing and training the dog to providing ongoing veterinary care. Civilians accidentally coming across this column are encouraged to make a donation to this excellent organization.

Further, departments can equip K-9 handlers with Naloxone kits especially designed to save K-9s from accidental overdose due to exposure to heroin, fentanyl, or other opioids. In early August, a deputy with the Clackamas County (OR) Sheriff's Office helped save the life of K-9 "Abbie" after the dog was inadvertently exposed to heroin spilled from a container.

Finally, departments can help handlers by funding regular visits to the vet, purchasing high-quality foodordinary 'kibble' is not sufficient for a working dogand other seemingly "ordinary" expenses.

Ultimately, the health and welfare of a K-9 falls on the shoulders of the dog's handler, but those officers can use a little more help from the agencyand the communitythey serve.

Family Members

The bond between a K-9 handler and "man's best friend" is truly unique.

A police K-9 is not just a member of the departmentthat dog is also a member of the handler's family.

Handlers and their K-9 partners basically spend their lives togetheroff duty and onfor many years.

Most handlers keep their dogs long after the animal is retired from active duty.

When a police dog dies in the line of duty, the emotional impact is just as difficultalbeit decidedly differentas when a human partner is killed.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the handlers who have lost their K-9 this yearand in years past.

This column is dedicated in honor of those fallen K-9sand their handlers.
Two police officers shot in an ambush attack and standoff in Florence, SC, have been released from the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, officials said at a press conference on Thursday.

According to WBTW-TV, one officer remains in the hospital in serious, but stable condition.

Three Florence County Sheriff's deputies were also wounded in the ambush and standoff. The conditions of the deputies have not been released.

The shooter has been identified as 74-year-old Fred Hopkins, a disabled Vietnam veteran and disbarred lawyer who has faced several charges in recent years. Police had reportedly been called to the Hopkins residence dozens of times.

A total of 12 people were struck by gunfire during the incident on Wednesdayfive civilians and seven law enforcement officers. One officerSergeant Terrence Carrawaywas killed.

Florence Police Chief Allen Heidler said of Carraway, "He was a giant of a man, but he was the proverbial gentle giant, and I loved him. He was the epitome of a community police officer. He loved this community, he gave it his all. With more than 30 years, he didnt have to do this job. But, this was his life, and this was what he wanted to do and serving Florence was his passion."
Embed from Getty Images

Following the deaths by suicide of three Chicago police officers, the department is looking at ways to more successfully address mental and emotional health of its officers.

According to WGN-TV, the department is seeking to increase the number of police chaplains and beef up peer support groups who can help officers cope with the mental and emotional burdens of the job.

The department wants to remove the stigma sometimes attached with an officer seeking assistance.

According to WGN, there are only five therapists to assist 13,500 officers and staff.
Embed from Getty Images

Data obtained from a murdered woman's "Fitbit" activity tracker may have led police in California to the suspected murderer.

According to engadget.coma website that reports on technologydata on Karen Navarra's "Fitbit" indicated that her heart rate "spiked significantly," then rapidly slowed and stopped during the 15-minute period that 67-year-old Anthony Aiello was in her home.

Aiello was arrested on murder charges and booked into the Santa Clara County Jail, the San Jose Police Department said.

Fitbit data has helped police find other suspected killers. Data from a Connecticut woman's activity tracker led police to charge her husband with her 2015 murder. Investigators also used Fitbit data in the case of Iowa college student Mollie Tibbetts. The 20-year-old had been missing for around a month before her body was found in August, and a 24-year-old man has been charged with her murder.

Fitbit's privacy policy states that it "may preserve or disclose information about you to comply with a law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request."
A police officer who once worked for the Jackson (GA) Police Department claimed in September 2016 that she had been shot by a six-foot-tall, 230-pound African American male.

The initial report by Officer Sherry Hall said that the man had suddenly opened fire on her and that she had returned fire.

Her assertion sparked a manhunt in the area, located about 50 miles southwest of Atlanta.

When the Georgia Bureau of Investigation began looking into the incident, investigators found that Hall had made inconsistent statements about the evidence. Hall reportedly also inconsistently described the alleged shooter, according to reports.

Ten days after the shooting, Hall was charged with multiple feloniesincluding witness tampering, making false statements and multiple counts of violating her oath as an officer, according to the Washington Post.

Superior Court Judge Thomas Wilson reportedly said in delivering his ruling, "One percent of the police officers in the United States are ruining it for 99 percent of the others. What you've doneyou've put such a black eye on law enforcement. It's hard for them to overcome it. We've got so many folks fighting us nowadays, and you just added to it."

Hall has now been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Embed from Getty Images

An officer with the Baltimore Police Department was fired for being drunk on the job after he was reportedly found "passed out" in his squad car, according to the Baltimore Sun.

A Breathalyzer test reportedly showed that Officer Aaron Heilman had a blood alcohol level of 0.22 the Sun reported.

Baltimore Interim Police Commissioner Gary Tuggle fired Officer Heilman, saying in a statement, "I looked at the totality of the circumstances involved in this case and I made the decision to terminate this officer immediately. His actions represented a safety issue for himself and the community. I simply won't tolerate it."
Embed from Getty Images

Law enforcement authorities in Michigan confirmed that they had to fatally shoot three wandering Emus after being unable to determine the owner of the exotic birds, according to MLive.com.

Deputies with the Allegan County (MI) Sheriff's Office were dispatched to deal with the three enormous birds blocking a roadway.

Deputies triedto no availto find out who owned the exotic birds.

ACSO Captain Chris Kuhn told WXMI-TV that multiple attempts were made to corral the birds.

"Those birds are about a hundred pounds, and the biggest thing is if they're cornered or scared, they have very large talons on their feet and can do a lot of damage," Kuhn said.

The Allegan County Sheriff's Department says they still don't know who owns the birds, according to WXMI-TV.
Embed from Getty Images

The Minneapolis Police Department on Wednesday declined to investigate the domestic abuse allegations against U.S. Representative Keith Ellison, citing an apparent conflict of interest, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

"Due to a conflict of interest, or the appearance of a conflict of interest, the Minneapolis Police Department will not be handling the matter involving Congressman Keith Ellison," the department said in a statement.

The Minnesota congressman's ex-wifeKaren Monahanhas accused Ellison of emotional abuse and one incident of physical aggression.

Exactly what law enforcement entity in the state will take up the investigation remains to be determined.
A City Councilman in Columbia (MO) has apologized for comments he made about police that drew criticism from that city's police union.

The local police union asked Ian Thomas to apologize to police officers "and provide proof of a claim he made" on Monday night as the city council was discussing a report on community-oriented policing, according to KMIZ-TV.

During the City Council meeting, Thomas reportedly said, "There are serious violations occurring to the people of color, there have been for generations. There are bruised feelings on the discussion of those issues on the side of police officers."

Columbia Police Officers' Association Director Dale Roberts criticized those comments in a written statement.

"At a time when morale within the Police Department is widely recognized as being dangerously low and turnover is dangerously high, we should expect more from our elected representatives than to levy wild accusations against their officers," Roberts wrote.

Councilman Thomas said in a written statement, "In response to your recent complaint about my statement during Monday's City Council meeting, I apologize to all Columbia Police Department officers for giving the impression that I was criticizing them, which was not my intention at all."

Thomas continued, "In fact, I was speaking in general terms, but I recognize my error in using careless language, and I wish to take this opportunity to emphasize my support for the courageous and difficult work undertaken by officers every day," Thomas said.

"This is a complicated time as we work to improve local police-community relations in the shadow of a national conversation about police use of force in communities of color," Thomas said in his statement.

"Police departments across the country have been under attack in recent years from anti-racism activists who point to documented violations, and it is understandable that there are bruised feelings on the part of police officers," Thomas said. "However, I believe that we need to move past these challenges and look to the future, in order to achieve our vision of safe communities and well-respected public safety officers," Thomas said.

In the past three years, the Columbia Police Department has received a total 30 citizen complaints of excessive force, according to WGFX-TV. None of those allegations were substantiated or resulted in disciplinary action, according to WGFX.
Embed from Getty Images

The United States Senate on Wednesday passed the "FAA Reauthorization Act" whichamong other thingscould allow federal law enforcement officers to shoot down privately owned drones.

The new provisions permitting police to act against unmanned aerial vehicles comes amid concerns that drones can be weaponized and used by international terror networks.

A more benign reason advocates for the legislation argue for the passage of the bill is that there has been an increase of novice drone pilots crashing their devices into private property.

The American Civil Liberties Union denounced the bill.

An ACLU spokesperson told TechCrunch that the new legislation grants "new powers to the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security to spy on Americans without a warrant" and they "undermine the use of drones by journalists, which have enabled reporting on critical issues like hurricane damage and protests at Standing Rock."

"The FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018 repeals Section 336, under which currently all hobbyist drone operators fly. Going forward all drone pilots will be required to register their aircraft and take an aeronautical knowledge test," according to DroneDJ.com, a website that reports on news related to UAVs.
NEW YORK CITY  Creative content company Alkemy X (www.alkemy-x.com) has expanded its directorial roster with the addition of Robert Boocheck and Jordan Fein. Boocheck has already wrapped a campaign for event-driven messaging platform Solace via The Barbarian Group, while Fein recently shot a commercial for Penn State Health. The two will be based out of the companys New York office.

Photo (L-R): Boocheck & Fein





A comedy/dialogue director with a flair for strong art direction, Boocheck was most recently repped by Honor Society. He was previously signed with such companies as Click 3X and Oil Factory. Boocheck launched his film career working for director Sam Raimi, and has since directed campaigns for such brands as Google, State Farm, Toyota and Ray-Ban, as well as the recent comedic Sometimes, Naked Is Better spots for Wonderful Pistachios. His music videos credits include seminal punk and indie bands, such as Bad Religion and Death Cab For Cutie. He is equally skilled in the creative direction of character animation and VFX. Some of his video work has been featured as an exhibit at the MOCA in Los Angeles.

Fein is known for his beautiful cinematic style and ability to honestly capture human moments with authenticity. He joins Alkemy X after being repped by Hone Production, where he helmed campaigns for Squarespace, Range Rover, Verizon, and Adobe. Before that, he was with 1stAveMachine, where his Highway Robbery spot for Volvo was awarded three Cannes Lions, a Clio Award, and a One Show Award in 2016.

Fein is an alumnus of the NYU Film Program and the Panavision New Filmmakers Program, and is a recipient of support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the International Documentary Association, and more recently, the Points North Fellowship for co-directing his first documentary feature, The Blessing. As a filmmaker, hes garnered a Grand Jury Prize at the Dallas International Film Festival, Best Feature Documentary at the Arizona International Film Festival, and Best of Fest at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Film Festival.
Przepraszamy!

Ogoszenie na stanowisku:

HR Recruiting Coordination Specialist (German Speaker)



wygaso z dniem 2018-11-09



Ta propozycja bya zozona przez UBS

Mozliwe przyczyny wygasniecia oferty to:

propozycja zamieszczona przez pracodawce zostaa wycofana z naszych zasobow

zleceniodawca zakonczy proces rekrutacji uzyskujac odpowiednia ilosc osob

rekruter zmodyfikowa tresc ogoszenia i jest ono dostepne pod innym adresem url

dostawca tresci usuna ogoszenie z bazy danych

bedny adres WWW ogoszenia

Jezeli poszukujesz pracy w branzy HR, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca HR

Jezeli poszukujesz pracy na stanowisku HR Recruiting Coordination Specialist (German Speaker), zajrzyj tutaj: Praca HR Recruiting Coordination Specialist (German Speaker)

Jezeli poszukujesz pracy w miescie: Krakow, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Krakow



Pamietaj, ze mozesz takze rozpoczac poszukiwanie pracy od strony gownej, kliknij tutaj.

Inne oferty, ktore mogy byc w kregu Twoich zainteresowan:
Welcome to followthemedia.com The article or material you have chosen... ftm Radio Page ...is available for restricted access. You may access this specific article or material for 4 If you are an ftm Member, please go to the home page HERE and log in ftm Members can access all site material at no additional charge. You can JOIN ftm here The ftm newsletter available at no charge to all with registration To register click here.
Limits the charges to 115 percent of the costs for direct patient care and quality improvement costs, including training, patient education, and technology support.

Requires rebates and penalties if charges exceed the limit.

Requires annual reporting to the state regarding clinic costs, patient charges, and revenue.

Prohibits clinics from refusing to treat patients based on the source of payment for care

This is the ballot summary for this proposition which is all about the operation of dialysis clinics:So who is behind this proposition and who is against it? The people who put it on the ballot are part of the SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, affiliated with the Service Employees International Union.The opposition campaign is getting its funding from two very large companies who are big players in the business of operating dialysis clinics, DaVita and Fresenius Medical Care North America. DaVita operates more than 2,500 clinics in the U.S. Fresenius operates more than 2,200 clinics in the U.S.When big business is behind the campaign opposing a ballot proposition, I'm immediately suspect their motives. This ballot measure claims to be interested in patients but the actual agenda of SEIU-United Healthcare West is to give them leverage in their efforts to force DaVita and Fresenius to unionize.Every major newspaper in California that had taken a position on Proposition 8 has said "No".I will vote No on Prop 8.
English Swedish

Elanders announces date of Quarterly Report January-September 2018 and Conference Call



Elanders will issue its Quarterly Report for the third quarter 2018 on Friday October 19 at 13:00 CET, followed by a conference call at 15:00 CET, hosted by President and CEO Magnus Nilsson and CFO Andreas Wikner.

We invite fund managers, analysts and the media to participate in the conference call. Please see below details to join the conference.

To join this event, please use the below Click to Join link 5-10 minutes prior to start time, where you will be asked to enter your phone number and registration details. Our 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.

CLICK TO JOIN

Use the Click to Join option above for the easiest way to join your conference or use one of the access numbers below:

Sweden: +46 (0)8 5033 6546

Germany: +49 (0)69 2222 10763

UK: +44 (0)330 336 9401

USA: +1 929-477-0443

Participant Passcode: 954180

Agenda

14:50 Conference number is opened

15:00 Review of the quarterly report

15:20 Q&A

16:00 End of the conference

During the telephone conference a presentation will be held. To access the presentation, please use this link:

https://www.elanders.com/presentations

For further questions, please contact

Magnus Nilsson, President and CEO, telephone: +46 31 750 07 50

Andreas Wikner, CFO, telephone: +46 31 750 07 50

Attachment
NEW YORK, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Digital Asset Monetary Network, Inc. or DigitalAMN ( OTCMKTS: DATI ), a specialized tech accelerator leveraging the Public Accelerator-Incubator (PAI) model, has engaged MoneyTV to provide an online media outlet for TruCrowd, Inc. , its sector focused crowdfunding portals  Fundanna (Cannabis) and CryptoLaunch (Security Token), along with the startups and development stage companies (Issuers) raising money on those related Reg. CF equity crowdfunding portals.



It is important that private startups and development stage companies have some sort of media platform to present their companys products and services to both the general and investing public, said Ajene Watson, CEO of Digital Asset Monetary Network, Inc. While these companies are not yet ready to be picked-up by major media outlets, fortunately, several independent online media services have emerged from the microcap market out of the necessity to cover smaller public companies. Microcap investors often look to these outlets for some semblance of objective information from those CEOs and corporate managers trying to get the word out.

For DigitalAMN , were not interested in marketing DATI. Were intent in making sure that both our client-companies and portfolio-companies have an online media platform to provide people with insight to their business model, operations, products and services.

Management believes that TruCrowd, Inc. (owner and operator of Top 10 ranked portal, truCrowd.com , as well as its cannabis vertical Fundanna and security token vertical CryptoLaunch) and the Issuers listed on those crowdfunding portals, can benefit from having a presence through one of these online media outlets. Management trusts MoneyTV is an outlet with a solid following that will serve well as a launching pad for those private Issuers leveraging Reg. CF equity crowdfunding platforms, to market their businesses to possible consumers and investors.

Watson concluded, I took the initial two interviews with MoneyTV to set the stage for those startups and development stage companies leveraging equity crowdfunding with TruCrowd, Inc. and any of its verticals, to provide information on both their company and offering. I am hopeful, this will encourage the public to visit these crowdfunding portals to see the many opportunities being listed each month  that the everyday person, can now finally get involved in, early.

ABOUT Digital Asset Monetary Network, Inc.

Digital Asset Monetary Network, Inc. ( OTCMKTS: DATI ) is the first company to utilize the Public Accelerator-Incubator (PAI) model, with the intent to follow the global success of accelerators and incubators around the world, adding niche opportunities to both the microcap and startup communities. As a PAI, Digital Asset Monetary Network will develop and acquire innovations that solve problems through digital platforms and other electronic applications.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/OTC_DATI

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/digitalamn/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/digitalamn/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DigitalAssetMonetaryNetwork/

For investor and general information, please email info@DigitalAMN.com

ABOUT truCrowd, Inc. (owner and operator of truCrowd.com and CryptLaunch)

Located in the heart of the financial district of downtown Chicago, truCrowd is a FINRA member equity crowdfunding portal operating under Regulation Crowdfunding (Title III of JOBS ACT); connecting startups and emerging businesses with non-accredited and accredited investors. Built on the belief that not all businesses and investors are alike, we pride ourselves on delivering a personalized and professional funding experience through industry-leading technology.

Website: https://cryptolaun.ch/ https://us.trucrowd.com/ https://www.fundanna.com/

Forward Looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not statements of historical or current fact constitute "forward-looking statements." Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other unknown factors that could cause the Company's actual operating results to be materially different from any historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In addition to statements that explicitly describe these risks and uncertainties, readers are urged to consider statements that contain terms such as "believes," "belief," "expects," "expect," "intends," "intend," "anticipate," "anticipates," "plans," "plan," to be uncertain and forward-looking.

Contact:

Public Relations Answering Center

(718) 285-6378 EXT 401

info@DigitalAMN.com
Dublin, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "IoT Device Management Market: Consumer, Enterprise, Industrial, and Government IoT Device Provisioning, Administration, Surveillance, Maintenance and Analytics 2018 - 2023" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



This report evaluates the IoT device management market including requirements, functionality, leading companies and solutions. The report evaluates market opportunities and challenges for IoT Device Management solutions across various industry verticals. The report includes forecasting for global and regional markets as well as potential across deployment types and sectors including automotive, manufacturing, smart cities, and more.

The IoT device management market encompasses device provisioning, administration, monitoring, and diagnostics important for trouble replication and corrective measures. The overall IoT device management market is driven by a few key factors including:



IoT Device Scope: Overall growth of IoT networks and systems dramatically expanding the scope of devices by volume, type, purpose, role and importance. The IoT device management market must evolve to meet the ever-expanding scale and scope of consumer, enterprise, industrial, and government solutions and systems.



IoT Security: Growing concerns over network security facilitating the need for device interaction, both for traditional signature-based software as well as AI-based protection of devices, data, and systems. Security goes beyond access (to device, network/system, etc.) and includes data security/privacy as well as securing proper decisions (e.g. ensuring that autonomous processes are carried forth in a manner that is not detrimental).

IoT Device Monitoring and Maintenance: There is a rapidly expanding need to monitor the health (on/off condition, power, connectivity, etc.) of IoT devices, particularly those in mission critical roles. With increasingly interconnected networks, and interdependent devices, many devices may be involved in high-priority processes.



Edge Computing In IoT Networks: With many computational processes moving to the edge of networks, there are special IoT device management needs in terms of data management, security, monitoring. The deployment of 5G networks and its support for massive IoT, coupled with Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) will accelerate the need for IoT device management at the edge of cellular networks in particular.

In addition to the above mentioned overall IoT device management market drivers, there are important factors to consider for each of the IoT market segments: Consumer, Enterprise, Industrial, and Government. While some IoT device management needs are similar between sectors, there are also some very unique needs on a per-segment basis. For example, the needs of enterprise are very different than the consumer IoT device management market. Some of those unique needs are as follows:



Consumer IoT Device Management Market: Many IoT devices in the consumer market include a Do-it-Yourself (DIY) component. However, DIY will not include things such as IoT device health monitoring (e.g. health of device) nor does it include monitoring device usage (e.g. behavior of users). This type of information is very important to the device provider and can assist with many important business decisions such as product development and consumer IoT device as-a-service offerings.



Enterprise IoT Device Management Market: The type and importance of enterprise IoT devices cannot compare with the consumer market. The sheer scope of IoT device role and importance varies significantly by specific industry (example: Utilities vs. Automobiles) as well as each individual use case within a given industry. As IoT is increasingly relied upon for support of many autonomous processes, enterprise must have reliable, secure IoT devices.



Industrial IoT Device Management Market: The industrial market is characterized as those enterprises that are directly or indirectly involved in manufacturing, industrial robotics and/or automation. This includes segments such as healthcare that rely upon IoT to automate many processes and procedures as provide critical information to care givers. Accordingly, many IoT devices are directly or indirectly involved in mission critical systems and/or processes. The level of concern for IoT device management is therefore amplified (as compared to general enterprise scenarios) in many use case situations.



Government IoT Device Management Market: It is important to distinguish two major sub-segments with government: Administration and Essential services. The latter, by definition, is essential, and in some cases, mission-critical such as public safety or defense. Therefore, any related IoT systems are also critical in terms of many various QoS factors such as uptime, processing speed, connectivity, data sensitivity, etc.



The report takes into consideration all four major IoT device management market segments: Consumer, Enterprise, Industrial, and Government. All purchases of this report includes time with an expert analyst who will help you link key findings in the report to the business issues you're addressing.



Key Topics Covered:



1.0 Introduction

1.1 Background

1.2 Research Scope

1.3 Target Audience

1.4 Companies in Report



2.0 Executive Summary

2.1 Overall IoT Device Management Market Potential

2.2 IoT Device Management Market by Deployment Type

2.3 IoT Device Management Market by Sector



3.0 Overview

3.1 Introduction to IoT Device Management Systems

3.2 Key Requirements for IoT Device Management Systems

3.2.1 Device Management Agent

3.2.2 Device Management in a Service/Cloud Environment

3.3 Fundamentals of Device Management Systems

3.3.1 Enrollment and Provisioning

3.3.2 Configuration and Association

3.3.3 Monitoring and Diagnostics

3.3.4 Management and Control

3.3.5 Software Updates

3.4 Commercialization of IoT Device Management Systems

3.5 IoT Device Management System Demand by Industry

3.5.1 Smart City

3.5.2 Fleet Management and Transportation

3.5.3 Automotive

3.5.4 Manufacturing

3.5.5 Utilities

3.5.6 Oil & Gas Industry

3.6 IoT Device Management Challenges

3.6.1 Anticipating Cause and Effect

3.6.2 Handling Device Management Needs by Specific Industry / Function

3.7 IoT Device Registry



4.0 Market Analysis and Forecasts 2018 - 2023

4.1 Global Markets for IoT Device Management Systems

4.2 Market for IoT Device Management System Deployment Type

4.2.1 IoT Device Management Embedded in Device 2018 - 2023

4.2.2 IoT Device Management Integrated in IoT Platform 2018 - 2023

4.2.3 IoT Device Management as Paas /SaaS 2018 - 2023

4.2.4 IoT Device Management as Standalone Software 2018 - 2023

4.3 Market for IoT Device Management System by Industry

4.3.1 IoT Device Management System Deployment in Smart Cities 2018 - 2023

4.3.2 IoT Device Management System in Manufacturing Sector 2018 - 2023

4.3.3 IoT Device Management System in Automotive Sector 2018 - 2023

4.3.4 IoT Device Management System in Fleet Management 2018 - 2023

4.3.5 IoT Device Management System in Utility Sector 2018 - 2023

4.3.6 IoT Device Management System in Oil & Gas Sector 2018 - 2023

4.4 Markets for IoT Device Management System by Region

4.4.1 North American Market Sectors for IoT Device Management Systems 2018 - 2023

4.4.2 European IoT Device Management Systems by Sector 2018 - 2023

4.4.3 APAC IoT Device Management Systems by Sector 2018 - 2023

4.4.4 RoW Markets for IoT Device management Systems 2018 - 2023



5.0 IoT Device Management Service Delivery Analysis

5.1 Key Functionality of Device Management Solutions

5.2 IoT Device Management Solutions Offering Types

5.2.1 IoT Device Management as a Service

5.2.2 As Software Embedded in IoT Platform / Device

5.2.3 Stand-alone Software Platform

5.3 IoT Device Management Industry SWOT Analysis



6.0 IoT Device Management Company and Solution Analysis

6.1 Advantech

6.2 Aeris

6.3 Allegro Software Development Corporation

6.4 Ampla Soluciones S.L.

6.5 ARM Ltd.

6.6 Bosch Software Innovations GmbH

6.7 Devicepilot

6.8 ETI Software Solutions

6.9 IBM

6.10 Microsoft

6.11 PTC

6.12 Particle

6.13 Proximetry Inc. (Relayr)

6.14 SiteWhere LLC.

6.15 SmithMicro Software

6.16 Telit

6.17 Tibbo Systems

6.18 Wind River

6.19 WSO2

6.20 Xively (LogMeIn)

6.21 Zentri



For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/6s8kfs/iot_device?w=12




TORONTO, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Peeks Social Ltd. (TSXV: PEEK; OTCQB: PKSLF) (Peeks Social or the Company) would like to congratulate Enthusiast Gaming (Enthusiast) on the commencement of the trading of their shares on the TSX Venture Exchange.



Enthusiast owns and operates an online network of 70 websites devoted to video gaming and video gaming related content with over 75M visitors every month. This remarkable accomplishment is up from one website and 20,000 visitors in 2011. Enthusiast also owns and operates Canadas largest video game expo, EGLX which will be held on October 26-28, 2018 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. EGLX expected attendance is 25,000 with key corporate sponsors including: Bell, Microsoft, Nintendo.

Some E-sports and Gaming highlights:

- 2017 E-sports reported revenues of US$ 650M growing to US$ 1,650M in 2021

- E-sports competitions have seen 21% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) in viewers in past 3 years

- 37.3% CAGR in prize money over past 3 years

- 127M streamers watched 2018 Mid Season Invitational for the League of Legends platform vs. 111M viewers for Superbowl LII

Peeks Social was an early stage investor in the Enthusiast platform when Enthusiast was still a private company.

Information on Enthusiast Gaming and EGLX:

www.enthusiastgaming.com

www.eglx.ca

About Peek Social:

Peeks Social is a live-streaming social network which enables social and commercial interactions, Peer-to-Peer payments, and other social commerce capabilities. Peeks Social is the worlds first social network which bridges the gap between traditional social media and professionally produced content via live or pre-recorded broadcasts. Peeks Social enables content creators to immediately monetize their content through patented and proprietary payment technologies.

The Peeks Social App can be downloaded in either the Apple or Google app stores, or by visiting www.peeks.social

For further information, please contact:

Peeks Social Ltd.

Mark Itwaru

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

416-639-5335

mark@peeks.com

David Vinokurov

Director Investor Relations

416-716-9281

davidv@peeks.com



Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) has reviewed or accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this Release.
BELFIELD, N.D., Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Meridian Energy Group, Inc., the leading developer of innovative and environmentally-compliant oil refining facilities, announced today that a complaint filed against its Davis Refinery project has been dismissed by Burleigh County District Court. The Plaintiff, Dakota Resource Council (DRC) motion for summary judgment was denied and all claims dismissed with prejudice. Further, District Court Judge Bruce B. Haskell found the Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for the Davis Refinery is in fact valid and still in full force and effect.



About Meridian Energy Group, Inc.

The Mission of Meridian Energy Group, Inc. is to provide long-term shareholder value through the development and operation of the cleanest, most efficient and environmentally-compliant crude oil refineries in the world, benefiting the community and its investors. Established in 2013, Meridian is led by industry experts with a combined 500 years of world-class expertise in energy & hydrocarbon processing, project development, finance, and large capital project management. Meridian Energy Group, Inc. current headquarters is in Belfield, ND.

For more information, visit: http://www.meridianenergygroupinc.com

Media Contact

Mark Hanes

TallGrass Public Relations

mark.hanes@tallgrasspr.com

(917) 359-0697




NAPANEE, Ontario, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VIVO Cannabis Inc. (TSXV:VIVO, OTCQX: VVCIF) (VIVO or the Company), through its wholly owned subsidiary ABcann Medicinals Inc., and Loyalist Colleges Applied Research Centre for Natural Products and Medical Cannabis (ARC) have entered into an applied research agreement to investigate and develop innovative processes for the extraction and formulation of cannabis oil for commercialization.



By partnering with Loyalist, VIVO aims to develop optimized processes for extraction, expand its capacity to develop new products, and contribute to unique and advanced experiential learning opportunities for students while preparing them to become future leaders in the Canadian cannabis industry.

VIVO and Loyalists ARC intend to achieve the following objectives as part of this agreement:

Investigate new processes and technologies to increase the efficiency of producing high-quality, well-characterized medical cannabis oil for commercialization;

Facilitate applied research projects in extraction and testing;

Investigate opportunities for new product formats and formulations for commercialization; and

Implement experiential learning opportunities at VIVO that allow Loyalist students to apply and advance their industry knowledge.

VIVO is excited to enter into this collaboration with Loyalist, said Jaipaul Massey-Singh, VP of Product Development and Supply at VIVO. The changes in our industry are rapid and dynamic, and to be successful its critical that we not only seek ways to innovate in the present but also foster future innovation. We believe our agreement with Loyalist will be highly beneficial for both organizations and look forward to collaborating on a range of projects that will allow students to contribute to our growth while we all learn and continue to produce the highest quality products for our customers.

We look forward to investigating new processes and technologies with VIVO, said Ann Drennan, Senior Vice-President Academic and Chief Learning Officer. This collaboration gives Loyalist students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in green technologies while working with an industry partner in the cutting-edge cannabis oil industry.

About Loyalist Colleges Applied Research and Innovation Department

Currently, Loyalist is the only College in Canada and the only Ontario academic institution to have a laboratory approved to conduct research activities with cannabis under the Narcotic Control Regulations, as listed on the Government of Canadas website . Through Loyalists Applied Research and Innovation Department, the College collaborates with industry partners in various fields on applied research projects, creating amazing learning experiences for students and faculty of all disciplines. The College has had success with funding support through Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) on a variety of projects. This allows Loyalist to increase capacity to work with local industries and businesses, support faculty who are committed to conducting research and to facilitating student research experiences. It has increased the capacity of Ontario industries to conduct applied research and attract new investors, stimulating innovative product development and job creation in the region. For more information, visit loyalistcollege.com .

About VIVO Cannabis

VIVO, based in Napanee, Ontario, is recognized for trusted, high-quality products and services. It holds production and sales licences 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.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Barry Fishman (CEO and Director)

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 for Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this news release may be considered forward-looking statements, which are statements that are not purely historical, including statements regarding the beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions of VIVO and its management regarding the future. Forward looking statements in this news release include statements relating to the intended objectives and expected benefits of the collaboration with Loyalist. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements, including the possibility that the collaboration with Loyalist will not be successful or that VIVO may not derive the expected benefits from the collaboration including with respect to the Companys ongoing product development efforts. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits the Company will obtain from them. Readers are urged to consider these factors, and the more extensive risk factors included in the Companys annual information form dated April 30, 2018 and other continuous disclosure filings, which are available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.
English Dutch

's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands, 5 October 2018

At an Extraordinary General Meeting held in the city of 's-Hertogenbosch, Van Lanschot Kempen's shareholders today approved the proposed return of capital in the amount of 1.50 per share, as announced on 22 August 2018.

Van Lanschot Kempen has the intention to return a total of over 60 million in capital in December 2018, subject to the legally prescribed period applicable to a capital return such as this. The capital return will be charged to the share premium reserve available for distribution and will therefore be exempt from Dutch dividend tax. Total share capital in issue will be unchanged and the CET1 ratio will remain well ahead of Van Lanschot Kempen's capital objective of 15-17% even after the return of capital.

Karl Guha, CEO: 'We are very happy that our strong capital position enabled us to put this proposal to our shareholders. Our aim is to return at least 250 million to shareholders in the period up to and including 2020. After this capital return of over 60 million we will have realised around 210 million of this.'

Frans Blom appointed in Supervisory Board Van Lanschot Kempen

At today's meeting the shareholders also agreed on the proposed nomination of Frans Blom (1962) to the Supervisory Board.

Willy Duron, Chairman of the Supervisory Board: 'We are very pleased that Frans Blom will join the Supervisory Board. He has extensive experience in setting up and implementing growth strategies and change processes within organisations and has in-depth knowledge of the financial sector. His knowledge and competencies are a good addition to the Supervisory Board.'

Proposed dates related to capital return:

Ex-date 17 December 2018

Record date 18 December 2018

Payment date 19 December 2018

About Van Lanschot Kempen

Van Lanschot Kempen, a wealth manager operating under the Van Lanschot, Evi and Kempen brand names, is active in Private Banking, Asset Management and Merchant Banking, with the aim of preserving and creating wealth for its clients. Van Lanschot Kempen, listed at Euronext Amsterdam, is the Netherlands' oldest independent financial services company with a history dating back to 1737.

vanlanschotkempen.com



Disclaimer

This document does not constitute an offer or solicitation for the sale, purchase or acquisition in any other way of or subscription to any financial instrument and is not an opinion or a recommendation to perform or refrain from performing any action.
VANCOUVER, B.C., Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Veritas Pharma Inc. (CSE: VRT; OTC: VRTHF; and Frankfurt: 2VP) (Veritas or the Company) is pleased to announce along with the Institute for Medical Cannabis (the IMC) of Puerto Rico, the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two entities for the investigation and commercialization of new pharmaceutical products within the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The MOU represents the first of its kind within Puerto Rico and signals Veritas entrance into the islands growing market.



The MOU establishes a timetable for collaboration and information exchange, as well as outline the creation of a Steering Committee. Both Veritas and IMC have opted to move swiftly with the MOU, with aims to take advantage of a new legal framework which promotes the investigation and development of new medicinal cannabis products.

This collaboration will position both of our groups favorably, stated Veritas CEO Dr. Lui Franciosi. With this MOU, we will leverage the Institutes vast experience on the island with Veritas research and development model.

Last year on July 9, 2017, the Puerto Rico government approved and enacted the MEDICAL CANNABIS Act, streamlining a new particular investigation license process as well as increasing the number of eligible conditions. Autism, glaucoma, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders, and others have been added to an already-lengthy list of medical conditions that already included cancer, HIV and AIDS, Alzheimers, epilepsy, and migraine headaches, among others. From April to August 2018 alone, the number of licensed cannabis patients has increased by 29%. Importantly, the island's cannabis act includes a reciprocity policy that allows dispensaries to serve patients visiting Puerto Rico, as long as they hold a medical marijuana card from their home state.

According to IMC President Alberto Burckhart, This agreement with Veritas marks a new chapter for Puerto Ricos medicinal cannabis industry, referring to the frameworks contemplation of the capitalization and marketing of intellectual property in other markets. Our collaboration truly has the potential to convert the island into a regional power player, adds Burckhart, highlighting the partnerships budding possibilities for new scientific advancement and medical discoveries in the field.

About the Institute for Medical Cannabis

The Institute for Medical Cannabis one of Puerto Ricos leading industry specialists, provides cultivation, extraction, formulation, multiple forms of production, research, and distribution using the best, award-winning strains, technology, and processes that the industry offers. Located at a private research and production facility in Ponce, Puerto Rico, IMCs facilities and operations are designed to withstand hurricane wind loads, control temperature and humidity, and maximize the islands natural sunlight. IMC is licensed under Puerto Ricos Department of Health Medical Cannabis Program. Last year, IMC became the first local cannabis business to be certified as Clean Green, thus surpassing USDA-standards for organic products.

For more information, please visit their website: imc-pr.com

About Veritas Pharma Inc.

Veritas Pharma Inc. is an emerging pharmaceutical and IP development company, who, through its 100% owned subsidiary Cannevert Therapeutics Ltd. (CTL), is advancing the science behind medical cannabis. It is the Companys aim, through its investment in CTL, to develop the most effective cannabis strains (cultivars) specific to pain, nausea, epilepsy and PTSD, solving the critical need for clinical data to support medical marijuana claims. CTLs unique value proposition uses a low-cost research and development model to help drive shareholder value, and speed-to-market. Veritas investment in CTL is led by a strong management team, bringing together veteran academic pharmacologists, anesthetists & chemists. The companys commercial mission is to patent protect IP (cultivars & strains) and sell or license to cancer clinics, insurance industry and pharma, targeting multi-billion-dollar markets according to Deloittes Insights and Opportunities.

Veritas Pharma Inc. is a publicly traded company in Canada, on the Canadian Stock Exchange under the ticker VRT; in the United States, on the OTC under the ticker VRTHF; and in Germany, on the Frankfurt exchange under the ticker 2VP.

For more information, please visit our website: veritaspharmainc.com

On behalf of the Board of Directors

" Dr. Lui Franciosi"

Dr. Lui Franciosi

President and Chief Executive Officer

Further information about the Company is available on our website at www.veritaspharmainc.com or under our profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the CSE website at www.thecse.com.

Investor and Public Relations Contact

Veritas Pharma Inc.

Sam Eskandari

Telephone: +1.416.918.6785

Email: ir@veritaspharmainc.com

Website: www.veritaspharmainc.com

The CSE has not reviewed, nor approved or disapproved the content of this press release.
PHOENIX, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GoviEx Uranium Inc. (TSX-V: GXU; OTCQB: GVXXF ) (GoviEx or Company) is looking to a better uranium market on the horizon. Daniel Major, Chief Executive Officer, talked with Stock Days Everett Jolly about what sets GoviEx apart from competitors.



We have three major projects with a very large total mineral resource, but more importantly, two fully-permitted projects. So, based on what we see in the improving uranium price, we can start to move towards development and look for leverage, not only on that uranium price, but also as GoviEx moves towards becoming a producer.

The uranium development company has all of its projects in Africa. Major said that GoviEx recently has put more resources towards technology and has added an extra property to the project in Zambia. Jolly then noted that uranium prices are down right now, but showing signs of recovery. He asked Major what GoviEx has to offer to investors at this time. Major said its about how advanced their project is.

Weve got an advanced uranium project. We think uranium prices are on the turn. Weve already seen a steady tick up this year  up from 20 dollars per pound to 27 dollars. He also reiterated that two of their projects are fully permitted, which can take some companies ten to fifteen years to achieve. Our projects are ready to go. We are already talking to the banks and working on a feasibility study for our Madaouela Project in Niger.

Jolly wanted an outlook from Major on the uranium market and a general idea of what types of industry use uranium.

Uranium is used almost exclusively for the production of energy in nuclear reactors, said Major. He explained that Japan, China, India and the African nations are beginning to drive the market for nuclear energy. It is one of the cheapest clean energy sources out there, he explained.

Youve got a market looking at a supply deficit now and it needs a much higher price to justify projects, he said. Thats where GoviEx comes in. Weve got projects ready to fill the growing supply gap.

For the full interview on where the uranium industry is headed and how GoviEx fits in to the market, listen to the podcast here: https://upticknewswire.com/featured-interview-ceo-daniel-major-of-goviex-uranium-inc-otcqb-gvxxf/

About GoviEx Uranium

GoviEx is a mineral resource company focused on the exploration and development of uranium properties. GoviExs principal objective is to become a significant uranium producer through the continued exploration and development of its Mine Permitted Madaouela Project and its other uranium properties in Africa.

For more information go here: www.goviex.com

Contact:

Govind Friedland, Executive Chairman

Daniel Major, Chief Executive Officer

+1 604-681-5529

info@goviex.com

This release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All information and statements other than statements of current or historical facts contained in this release are forward-looking information. Such statements and information may be identified by words such as "about", "approximately", "may", "believes", "expects", "will", "intends", "should", "plans", "predicts", "potential", "projects", "anticipates", "estimates", "continues", or similar words or the negative thereof or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here and elsewhere in GoviEx's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. Information provided in this release is necessarily summarized and may not contain all available material information.

Forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the expected timing of the development and potential advancement to production of GoviExs mine-permitted projects, the expected recovery of the market price of uranium, and anticipated direct and indirect effects of an increasing uranium market price on GoviExs ability to advance its mine-permitted projects towards production.

Forward-looking statements are based on a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by management based on the business and markets in which GoviEx operates, are inherently subject to significant operational, economic, and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. There can be other factors that cause results, performance, or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated, or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate or that management's expectations or estimates of future developments, circumstances, or results will materialize. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, the results or events predicted in these forward-looking statements may differ materially from actual results or events. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date of this release, and GoviEx disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise such information, except as required by applicable law.

About Uptick Newswire and the Stock Day Podcast

Founded in 2013, Uptick Newswire is the fastest growing media outlet for Nano-Cap and Micro-Cap companies. It educates investors while simultaneously working with penny stock and OTC companies, providing transparency and clarification of under-valued, under-sold Micro-Cap stocks of the market. Uptick provides companies with customized solutions to their news distribution in both national and international media outlets. Uptick is the sole producer of its Stock Day Podcast, which is the number one radio show of its kind in America. The Uptick Network Stock Day Podcast is an extension of Uptick Newswire, which recently launched its Video Interview Studio located in Phoenix, Arizona.

Investors Hangout is a proud sponsor of Stock Day, and Uptick Newswire encourages listeners to visit the companys message board at https://investorshangout.com/
EDMONTON, Alberta, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alcanna Inc. (Alcanna or the "Company") (TSX: CLIQ) is pleased to announce that our Company has received five (5) of the seventeen (17) interim cannabis licenses issued by Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC). These interim licenses allow us to order and have product shipped to these five retail locations in preparation for legalization. All retailers that were issued an interim license are still required to fulfill all conditions established by the AGLC prior to receiving their final sales license on October 17, 2018.



We anticipate that we will be able to fulfill these conditions and plan to open all five cannabis stores on October 17, 2018. Further, we anticipate opening a total of 37 cannabis stores in Alberta, the maximum number permitted for a single operator under provincial regulations in year one, by the end of Q2 2019.

The Alcanna team has invested a significant amount of resources into navigating and complying with the new and evolving federal, provincial and municipal laws and regulations, said James Burns, CEO of Alcanna. Today we are proud to be one of the countrys leading cannabis retail companies and look forward to opening our first five stores in four different cities across Alberta on October 17th.

Alcanna also announced today that its cannabis stores will be operated under the banner "Nova Cannabis". Alcanna had earlier announced its plans to brand the stores "Aurora Cannabis", however a change in brand was necessary to satisfy the evolving retail cannabis regulatory regime. All other aspects of Alcanna's previously announced plans to open stores such as design and layout remain unchanged.

We are disappointed that this change had to be made, however we are a responsible leader in this new industry and will follow the letter and the spirit of the evolving regulations, said James Burns, CEO of Alcanna. Our go-to-market strategy has not changed, our relationships with all of our vendor partners, including Aurora Cannabis, are strong, and we remain focused on delivering a differentiated consumer experience with the widest possible selection.

ABOUT ALCANNA INC.

Alcanna is one of the largest private sector retailers of alcohol in North America and the largest in Canada  owning and operating 228 locations in Alberta, B.C. and Alaska. With revenues in excess of $600 million per year, Alcanna processes over 20 million individual retail transactions of beverage alcohol.

Alcanna's innovative Wine and Beyond brand brought an entirely new concept to alcohol sales in Alberta in a large format experiential environment with over 10,000 different products to choose from, many sold only at Alcanna stores, at competitive prices. Our Liquor Depot brand is ubiquitous throughout Alberta and our new Deep Discount Liquor banner has brought low prices in an attractive consumer-friendly environment to Albertans. Aurora Cannabis invested $138 million to buy a 25% stake in Alcanna in 2018 and will partner with Alcanna in entering cannabis retail in any jurisdiction where private cannabis stores and such partnerships are allowed.

Alcanna's common shares and convertible subordinated debentures trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols "CLIQ" and "CLIQ.DB", respectively.

Additional information about Alcanna Inc. is available at www.sedar.com and the Companys website at www.alcanna.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains forward-looking statements or information (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as anticipate, "will", "should", plan and similar words suggesting future events or future performance. All statements and information other than statements of historical fact contained in this news release are forward-looking statements. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking statements pertaining to: the opening of up to five (5) retail cannabis stores on October 17, 2018; and additional stores thereafter; the satisfaction of certain conditions required to receive final sales licenses from the AGLC; number of cannabis stores that the Company intends to open in the first year following legalization; and the Companys cannabis retail strategy.

With respect to forward-looking statements contained in this news release, the Company has made assumptions regarding, among other things: its ability to satisfy the conditions to receive final sales licenses and open retail cannabis stores on a timely basis; and the ability of management to execute the Company's retail cannabis business plan.

Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements, and the assumptions on which such forward-looking statements are made, are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations and assumptions will prove to be correct. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements included in this news release. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual performance and financial results to differ materially from any estimates, forecasts or projections. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things: the risk that the Company will be unable to satisfy the conditions to final sales licenses prior to October 17, 2018; that the Company may not receive licenses for all of the remaining stores it intends to open in Alberta by Q2 2019; and the other factors described in the Companys public filings (including the Annual Information Form) available at www.sedar.com . Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof. Except as expressly required by applicable securities legislation, Alcanna does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

For further information

David Gordey

Chief Financial Officer

Alcanna Inc.

(780) 497-3262
We're sorry, you encountered a page that doesn't exist.
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- VPR Brands, LP (OTC PINK: VPRB), a market leader specializing in accessories and vaporizers for essential oils, cannabis concentrates and extracts as well as cannabidiol (CBD), will be debuting its premium GOLDLINE Hemp based products at the NACS expo in booth N235 being held in Las Vegas October 8th-10th.



We have formulated GOLDLINE Hemp only products without CBD especially for the convenience store market segment. The NACS expo will be prohibiting the sale or display of any CBD products or products containing CBD at the event. Although NACS take no position on the legality of CBD its policy prohibits the display, exhibiting or advertisement of any products that violate or that could be perceived as violating any applicable federal, state or local laws and such products are not permitted to be exhibited or displayed at NACS events, nor may they be advertised in related publications or media.

Our GOLDLINE Hemp Gummies advertisement has been approved and was published in the NACS show magazine and online digital advertising. We will also have a full HEMP only based product line at NACS and we are excited to be able to participate. See www.goldlinehemp.com for more information.

Unfortunately for the CBD community NACS has taken the position not to allow CBD products and many companies will not be able to show or advertise at the Expo. This may also influence retailers to think twice about carrying products containing CBD. Thankfully we have an alternative product line which contains no CBD. Although we dont necessarily agree with the policy we of course see the opportunity in being one of few who will be allowed to display and sell our non CBD products at the Expo," says Kevin Frija CEO of VPR Brands.

CBD and Hemp product categories are one of the fastest growing within the market as more research and studies come out about their benefits. Our Hemp line that does not contain CBD will allow for wholesale and distribution customers who are not yet ready for CBD products but want to take advantage of this rapidly expanding product class. The NACS show is the perfect trade show to debut GOLDLINE HEMP to convenience store retailers.

ABOUT THE NACS EXPO:

The National Association of Convenience Stores NACS Expo Draws more than 24,000 attendees and 1,100 exhibitors. The U.S. convenience store industry, with more than 154,000 stores nationwide selling fuel, food and merchandise, serves 160 million customers dailyhalf of the U.S. populationand has sales that are 10.8% of total U.S. retail and foodservice sales. NACS has 2,100 retailer and 1,750 supplier members from more than 50 countries.

ABOUT GOLDLINE:

Gold Line combines premium ingredients and extracts coupled with the newest in technology to achieve the ultimate selection of Cannabidiol CBD and Hemp products available anywhere. The product range is designed for a wide variety of consumers featuring edibles such as gummies and pure honey stix, tinctures, pre-rolled flower, vapables and creams. For more information please visit www.cbdgoldline.com

ABOUT HONEYSTICK:

HONEYSTICK is a lifestyle brand that combines the features of high tech, high performance, dependability and affordability when it comes to upper tier vaporizers. From being the first to market in creating a Sub Ohm Vaporizer to the latest Ripper, the honey stick teams works with a vast network of growers, extractors, and industry figures to bring the needs of patients and recreational users to life. Honey Stick sells online and through a diverse network of distributors, e-tailers, dispensaries and smoke shops. For more information about VPR Brands, please visit the company on the web at http://www.vapehoneystick.com

ABOUT VPR BRANDS, LP:

VPR Brands is a technology company, whose assets include issued U.S. and Chinese patents for atomization related products including technology for medical marijuana vaporizers and electronic cigarette products and components. The company is also engaged in product development for the vapor or vaping market, including e-liquids. Vaporizers and electronic cigarettes (also known as e-cigarettes) are devices which deliver nicotine and or cannabis through atomization or vaping, and without smoke and other chemical constituents typically found in traditional products. For more information about VPR Brands, please visit the company on the web at www.vprbrands.com

Forward-looking statements:

This news release contains statements that involve expectations, plans or intentions and other factors discussed from time to time in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. These statements are forward-looking and are subject to risks and uncertainties, so actual results may vary materially. The company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The company disclaims any obligation subsequently to revise any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of such statements or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events.

Contact Information:

VPR Brands, LP

Kevin Frija

CEO and CFO

(954) 715-7001

info@vprbrands.com

Attachment
LONDON, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Maru Group (Maru or the Group), the technology-enabled market research and customer insights Group, today announces the appointment of Philip Jones as Chief Financial Officer of its operations in the Americas. With over 21 years of financial experience across a variety of industries, Philip is well-versed in building, strengthening and leading corporations financial operations. He will work closely with Group CFO, Heather McRae, to lead the financial activities of Maru in Canada, Latin America and the U.S. His appointment closely follows Marus recent acquisition of cutting-edge social listening software, Lissted, and further strengthens the Groups senior management team and Maru continues to grow internationally.



Philip joins Maru Group from Mundo Media, a global industry leader in online performance-based marketing, where he was CFO for nearly a decade and responsible for developing the companys finance, governance and reporting processes.

Ged Parton, CEO of Maru Group, said: We are delighted to welcome Philip to Maru Group. He has a wealth of experience and a proven track record as a strategic, operationally-focused, and hands-on executive having worked for companies ranging from start-ups to corporations with revenues of more than $200m. He joins an experienced and ambitious executive team with some of the most forward-thinking leaders in the market research and insights industry today.

Philip Jones commented: Maru has experienced impressive growth since its foundation in 2016, especially with its recent expansion into Latin America. I look forward to working closely with Ged, Heather and the rest of the executive team at the Group to play my part in the next chapter of its exciting development.

Notes to editors:



About Maru Group

Maru Group (Maru or The Group) is a technology-enabled market and customer insights company, whose brands are leading the way in the provision of research, insight and advisory services powered by cutting-edge technology and innovation. The Group is quickly emerging as an exciting challenger brand, disrupting the traditional market research and insights industry.

Established in 2016 by industry veteran Ged Parton, Maru uses in-depth knowledge of industry sectors and its state-of-the-art technologies to equip its clients with targeted and relevant insights at speed. These insights enable Marus clients to adapt their corporate strategy and innovate quickly to stay ahead of the competition.

The Group is developing a portfolio of market-leading companies with growth characteristics, talented management teams and collaborative cultures that prize intellectual generosity.

Maru is backed by Primary Capital Partners LLP, a UK-based provider of private equity finance for high potential and growth companies.
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. , Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co. (NYSE American:CTO) (the Company) today announced the acquisition of an approximately 210,000 square foot, Class A single-tenant office property in Albuquerque, New Mexico (the Property) for approximately $44.0 million, or approximately $209 per square foot. The Property, which is LEED Gold certified, is situated on approximately 25 acres and is 100% leased to an affiliate of Fidelity Investments (Fidelity), the 2nd largest mutual fund company in the United States, under a triple-net lease that was recently extended through 2028. The Property was built in 2009 as a build-to-suit for Fidelity which they are currently using for call center and back-office functions. The initial investment yield is above the high end of the Companys 2018 guidance. The transaction is expected to be part of a 1031 like-kind exchange.



As a result of the acquisition of the Property, the weighted average lease duration for the Companys portfolio of single-tenant income properties is approximately 9.3 years.



The Property at 5401 Watson Drive, is located in the Mesa del Sol community, just 8 miles outside of Albuquerque. Mesa del Sol is a 12,900-acre mixed-use master planned community, one of the largest in the United States, which currently features 1.2 million square feet of industrial, commercial and office development and 250 single-family residences, recreation facilities and the 15,000-seat Isleta Amphitheater. The Property is located just 5 miles from Albuquerque International Airport (the largest in New Mexico), approximately 10 miles from Kirtland Air Force Base, is in close proximity to several research campuses of the University of New Mexico and the Sandia National Laboratories and is less than 10 miles from Interstate 40 and Interstate 25 interchange.

The Company has initiated efforts to explore the disposition of certain of its multi-tenant income properties whereby the proceeds from any sale transaction would be redeployed in a 1031 like-kind exchange structure to invest in one or more single-tenant net-lease income properties. This monetization of certain multi-tenant properties and reinvestment into single-tenant properties is part of the Companys effort to simplify its investment strategy into single-tenant net-lease product.

The Company also announced the following update to its pipeline of land contracts as of October 4, 2018 reflecting changes since its last release on August 30, 2018.

The Company currently has sixteen (16) executed purchase and sale agreements with fourteen (14) different buyers, which in the aggregate represent the potential sale of approximately 3,500 acres, or approximately 64% of our remaining land holdings, with anticipated sales proceeds of more than $154 million, or approximately $44,000 per acre. Each of the transactions are in varying stages of due diligence by the various buyers including, in some instances, having made submissions to the planning and development departments of the City of Daytona Beach and other approval and permitting activities with other applicable governmental authorities. In addition to other customary closing conditions, most of the transactions are conditioned upon the receipt of approvals or permits from various governmental authorities, as well as other matters that are beyond the Companys control. If such approvals are not obtained, the prospective buyers may have the ability to terminate their respective agreements prior to closing. As a result, there can be no assurances regarding the likelihood or timing of any of these potential land transactions being completed or the final terms thereof, including the sales price.

The updated pipeline of land contracts reflects, amongst other changes, the closing of a land sale, a new contract entered into, and terminated contracts as outlined in the following summary:

Completed the sale of nearly 13 acres on Tomoka Farms Road on the west side of Interstate 95 near the Honda and CarMax dealerships, for a total sales price of $2.1 million, or approximately $166,000 per acre, and resulting in an estimated gain of approximately $1.9 million, or $0.26 per share after tax;

Added approximately 80 acres to the existing contract with OConnor Management that was originally for approximately 123 acres along Williamson Boulevard. The amended contract now represents approximately 203 acres for a total potential transaction price of approximately $45.3 million, or approximately $223,000 per acre, an increase of potential proceeds of approximately $16 million;

OConnor Management terminated its land contract pertaining to the approximately 850-acre industrial park that had a potential transaction price of approximately $34 million; and

VanTrust terminated its land contract pertaining to approximately 71 acres on Clyde Morris Boulevard that had a potential transaction price of approximately $5 million.

Finally, the Company announced that in September 2018, that Kerogen renewed its oil exploration lease on approximately 15,152 acres in Hendry County, Florida for an additional year (through September 2019) and that Kerogen filed its application for a drilling permit. As part of the renewal, the Company received $400,000 as partial payment of the total amounts due of approximately $957,000, which includes a $150,000 drilling penalty. The remaining $557,000 will be paid in monthly installments ending in January of 2019.



About Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co.



Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co. is a Florida-based publicly traded real estate company, which owns approximately 2.3 million square feet of income properties in diversified markets in the United States, as well as nearly 5,500 acres of land in the Daytona Beach area. Visit our website at www.ctlc.com .

We encourage you to review our most recent investor presentations which are available on our website at www.ctlc.com .

SAFE HARBOR

Certain statements contained in this press release (other than statements of historical fact) are forward-looking statements. Words such as believe, estimate, expect, intend, anticipate, will, could, may, should, plan, potential, predict, forecast, project, and similar expressions and variations thereof are intended to identify certain of such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the dates on which they were made, although not all forward-looking statements contain such words. Although forward-looking statements are made based upon managements expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effect upon the Company, a number of factors could cause the Companys actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Such factors may include the completion of 1031 exchange transactions, the availability of investment properties that meet the Companys investment goals and criteria, the modification of terms of certain land sales agreements, uncertainties associated with obtaining required governmental permits and satisfying other closing conditions for planned acquisitions and sales, as well as the uncertainties and risk factors discussed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2018, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There can be no assurance that future developments will be in accordance with managements expectations or that the effect of future developments on the Company will be those anticipated by management. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release.
- Award recognizes firms advancements in accelerated insider threat detection and response as well as its role in protecting industrys most targeted sector -



NEW YORK, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Corvils multi-award winning Security Analytics continues to garner industry recognition winning the Best Cybersecurity Provider category in the 2018 Mutual Fund Services and Technology Awards, which celebrate outstanding performance of vital operational functions that keep mutual funds in business.

As the most targeted industry with the highest volume of security incidents, Financial Services firms face a constantly evolving barrage of cyber attacks. Corvil Security Analytics supports firms in outmaneuvering todays advanced cyber attackers, who have industrialized their tactics, techniques and procedures. The solution leverages AI and machine learning to provide a new type of visibility and depth of insight from the network to identify, investigate, and remediate cyber threats, including those from compromised user accounts, that increase the risk of data theft and reputational damage.

This award emphasizes Corvils strong track-record in anticipating market needs and changes and advancing its streaming analytics platform to deliver comprehensive and effective cyber risk mitigation as well as greater operational efficiencies. Whether illuminating blind spots to find, stop and minimize the damage of a ransomware attack , or prioritizing the most suspicious users in the environment to thwart insider risks , Corvils streamlined workflows and intelligence sharing with the broader security and network operations ecosystem is helping to bolster cyber resilience.

Corvils innovation also has been proven to addresses the unique security needs of todays electronic transaction businesses looking to solve escalating concerns over cyber attacks and demonstrate compliance with evolving regulations without impairing the reliability or performance of critical systems. With Corvil Cara , the worlds first virtual security expert for financial markets, vulnerabilities and possible attacks within trading environments are autonomously identified for investigation. The solution provides a daily cybersecurity risk assessment report consumable by business executives, and outlines the insights required by CISOs and security teams for detailed forensic investigation and response.

These differentiators are among the factors that have propelled Corvil to become the gold standard platform for the top performing financial services firms, including top banks, asset managers, brokers, and stock exchanges. Consequently, this strong reputation has given rise to other sectors, with high cyber risk profiles, such as insurance and legal firms , to enlist these proven and trusted capabilities.

We are proud and delighted to receive this important industry endorsement, said David Murray, Corvils Chief Marketing and Business Development Officer. With regulatory bodies such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) warning that cyber attacks are the greatest threat to markets[1], Corvil remains focused on innovation that continues to deliver more effective and efficient cybersecurity operations and protections for the industry.

2018 continues to be a banner year for acknowledgement of Corvils performance with an impressive list of awards and rankings spanning:  Leader  in Software Reviews 2018 Network Monitoring Data Quadrant; " Best Time-Stamping / Latency Measurement System " at Intelligent Trading Technology 2018 Awards;  Best Time Synchronisation Solution  at A-Team Group's RegTech Awards and " Best Financial Transaction Security Platform " in 2018 FinTech Breakthrough Awards. In 2018 Institutional Investor also named Corvil CEO, Donal Byrne, among worlds top 25 Innovators in trading technology while most recently Corvil GM and VP of Americas, Dan Kennedy, was recognized among the 2018  Wall Street 50 .

About Corvil

Corvil is the industry leader for deriving Security, Operational, and Business intelligence from network data. As companies adopt faster and smarter machine technology, it becomes critical to tap into richer and more granular machine data sources to safeguard the transparency, performance and security of critical infrastructure and business applications. The Corvil streaming analytics platform captures, decodes, and learns from network data on the fly, transforming it into machine-time intelligence for network, IT, security and business teams to operate efficiently and securely in this new machine world. Corvil uses an open architecture to integrate the power of its network data analytics with the overall IT ecosystem providing increased automation and greater operational and business value outcomes for its users. The Corvil solution is trusted by leading financial institutions to safeguard their businesses across the globe involving 354 trillion messages with a daily transaction value in excess of $1 trillion.



Learn more about Corvil: Corvil.com | Twitter | LinkedIn

Notes to the editor:

[1] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-sec-enforcement-exclusive/exclusive-new-sec-enforcement-chiefs-see-cyber-crime-as-biggest-market-threat-idUSKBN18Z2TX

Media Contact

Press Office at Corvil+353 1 859 1040

pressoffice@corvil.com
Sarasota, Fla., Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- More than 250 agents from the invitation-only Christies International Real Estate (CIRE) network met at Christies flagship auction house at Rockefeller Plaza in New York on September 24-25 for the annual, distinguished Luxury Specialist Conference. Among the attendees were five top producers for leading Gulf Coast luxury brokerage Michael Saunders & Company  Tom Cinquegrano, Maureen Horn, Marianne LeBar, Carol Stewart & Janet Walter  all of whom furthered their knowledge in important luxury asset classes of art, jewelry, watches, handbags, and, of course, real estate.



Speakers included top producers in real estate sharing their expertise, Christies specialists with insights into how to elevate client service through the auction house, and an economist providing a forecast for 2019. At the conclusion of the conference, attendees were designated a Christies International Real Estate Luxury Specialist by Christies Education.



One of the hallmarks of the Christies brand is exemplary client care, said Dan Conn, CEO of Christies International Real Estate. This conference provides network agents the opportunity to better understand and leverage Christies full spectrum of expertise in art, luxury goods, and real estate. The agents who attend are proven experts in their local markets, motivated to pursue continuing education in the luxury market and well-deserving of being designated a Luxury Specialist.



Tom Cinquegrano of the Michael Saunders and Company Lakewood Ranch office said this of the conference:

The most important reason for attending is because Christies is a phenomenal vehicle to leverage our international customers. We can share the content we learned with our customers.



Maureen Horn of the Michael Saunders and Company Longboat Key South office said this of the conference:

Christies is the preeminent source of luxury not only because of historic sales, like the Rockefeller Estate and Da Vincis Salvator Mundi, but also because it has maintained its influence while evolving with the industry. This conference reconfirmed the fact that in any business, especially real estate, you can never stop learning. Continuous education begets value that we can then offer to current and potential customers.



Marianne LeBar of the Michael Saunders and Company Palmer Ranch office said this of the conference:

I attended the Christies conference to get an update on the economic factors affecting our luxury clientele today and found the discussion on distribution of wealth, and what will be passed onto the heirs of Baby Boomers, very insightful. It reminded me how early on in my career Michael Saunders emphasized Generation Speak and how to talk to a customer on their level. Its the truest thing I have ever learned and something I incorporate into all my interactions.



Carol Stewart of the Michael Saunders and Company Boca Grande office said this of the conference:

The information given at the Christies International Real Estate Conference was a timely reminder always keep a pulse on your seller's motivations; push the reset button on listings that have gone flat; and be valuable to other agents - they are very important to our overall businesses.



Janet Walter of the Michael Saunders and Company Longboat Key South office said this of the conference:

The fact that Michael Saunders & Company has a relationship with and the support of an organization with such a strong reputation and marketing strategy, makes me even more confident about representing them. I believe our customers understand that this association makes them part of this exclusive group.

All media inquiries for Christies International Real Estate should be directed to Lisa Bessone at lbessone@christies.com.

For additional Michael Saunders & Company commentary, please direct all media inquiries to Samantha Emelock at SamanthaEmelock@MichaelSaunders.com.

Connect with Michael Saunders & Company and join the conversation at:

Michael Saunders & Company

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SarasotaRE/

Twitter: @MichaelSaunders

Instagram: @MichaelSaundersRE

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SarasotaRE

###

About Christies International Real Estate

Christies International Real Estate has successfully marketed high-value real estate around the world for more than 30 years. Through its New York City brokerage and invitation-only Affiliate network spanning 49 countries, Christies International Real Estate offers incomparable services to a global clientele at the luxury end of the residential property market. The company has offices in London, New York City, Hong Kong, Moscow, Los Angeles, and Palm Beach, and its affiliated brokerages have recorded approximately US$500 billion of real estate transactions over the last five years. (Data as of June 30, 2018). For additional information, please visit www.christiesrealestate.com.

About Michael Saunders & Company

In its fifth decade of service to Southwest Florida, Michael Saunders & Company has grown into a network of 24 full-service real estate officeswith nearly 700 agents and 200 team members spanning the Gulf Coast region. International brokerage affiliations with Christies International Real Estate, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, Luxury Portfolio International and Mayfair International Realty extend the companys message to qualified buyers globally. Headquartered in Sarasota, Fla., Michael Saunders & Company affords customers the most comprehensive range of real estate services in the Southwest Florida marketplace. These include mortgage, title, insurance and relocation services, a commercial real estate division and full-service rental and property management capabilities.

For more information about Michael Saunders & Company, please call 1-888-552-5228 or visit us at michaelsaunders.com.
by Anna Chiara Filice

What differentiates young people in Pakistan is education and poverty for the poor dont go to school. For Christians, discrimination in the workplace and marginalisation because of their faith are added factors. For one young Pakistani, Daniel Bashir, bishops should help solve our problems through faith.

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  "Catholic bishops, in addition to listening to us young people, should guide us, said Daniel Bashir, a young synod delegate from Pakistan, speaking to AsiaNews to the Synod on young people.

He is one of the very few young auditors (36) invited to participate in the Synod of Bishops, tasked with helping the Church to better understand young people and touch their destiny, renewing them in faith and vocation.

For Daniel, to reach this goal, Catholic leaders meeting in the Vatican until 28 October should advise us. Many of us dont know what to do with our lives, what path to choose. Help us understand it through faith."

A young doctor from Karachi, Daniel is also the national coordinator of Jesus Youth, an international movement of lay missionaries. He has been lucky in life because not all young people in his country have the opportunity to study that he has had.

If one really wants to understand how Pakistan's youth live, "the first distinction that needs to be made is between those who study and those who do not. Everything revolves around that."

If we turn to the Christian minority, "the distinctions based on education makes little difference. We [Christians] can be engineers, architects, doctors, but in many places, we are discriminated because of our faith. Some jobs are for Muslims only, whilst the most degrading jobs are reserved for young people from minority groups. Sometimes this is very frustrating, especially for those who have an education. It is painful for us."

In Pakistan, young Catholics live "in a very simple way. The most devout go to Mass every morning, before going to school or work. For that reason, the service is held at 6:30 am in many parishes."

Money is the main factor that differentiates. "For students, the school day unfolds following an hourly schedule. When they are grown up, they search for work. Those from poor families, life is different. Most of them are day labourers, so if they dont work, they dont ear. For this reason, many move away from the faith because they cannot go to Mass on Saturday or Sunday. Neither is a public holiday in Pakistan.

From a spiritual point of view, things have been changing in the past few years because "of the youth of priests. Until a decade ago, clergymen were elderly, seen as distant from people. But now there are younger priests, who attract the faithful, make confessions simpler, teach us better how to live as witnesses of Jesus among Muslims.

For the young Karachi doctor, the spontaneity that characterises young men of the cloth "allows us to develop a warmer atmosphere with youth. This is why they are often called 'Brothers' rather than 'Fathers'. They make us feel loved, as if we were all part of one big family."

However, young Pakistanis face only one fundamental problem, namely guidance. After school, we dont know what to do. We are confused, we dont have a sense of discernment. Priests are extraordinary in their pastoral work but not in counselling young people."

For this reason, he believes that the Synod of Bishops, which is centred on this topic, represents a great opportunity. "The bishops must help us find our way. The Synod should encourage them to focus on helping and counselling young people in individual dioceses. After listening to us, they must advise us on how to solve our problems, realise our dreams, and face the challenges of life through faith and spiritual renewal."
AMBLER, Pa., Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Phenom People , the global leader in Talent Relationship Marketing (TRM), announced today that it has been recognized for its employer reputation with two industry awards:



Stevie Award for Employer of the Year (Computer Software category)

Comparably Award for Happiest Employees

We are excited to win these awards, as they reinforce our philosophy and commitment, said Mahe Bayireddi, CEO at Phenom People. Our employees are our greatest resource, so its vitally important that they come to a workplace that has a passion for their livelihood and overall happiness.

Stevie Award

The Stevie Awards for Great Employers received more than 550 nominations from organizations in 21 nations this year for consideration in a wide range of HR-related categories, including Achievement in Workplace Safety & Compliance, Employer of the Year, Chief Human Resources Officer of the Year, Human Resources Team of the Year, Employee Relations Solution Provider of the Year among others. Businesses were evaluated and ranked by a panel of 150-plus judges across three criteria; achievements, accomplishments, and data validating employee satisfaction.

Phenom People was awarded Employer of the Year in the category for Computer Software with more than 250 employees.

Comparably Award

Comparablys awards are solely dependent on employee feedback and ratings in categories such as professional development, perks and benefits, office culture, leadership, and employee happiness.

Phenom People was awarded the Comparably Award for Happiest Employees.

This is the fifth Comparably award for Phenom People. Past wins include two awards for the CEO; Best CEO for Diversity and Best CEO for Women. Phenom also won Best Company for Leadership, and Best Company for Managers.

Were honored and privileged to win this award, said Brad Goldoor, CPO at Phenom People. Our focus is about the culture and work environment that provides an employee-first mentality. This award reflects that outlook.

Phenom People delivers TRM, a single platform for CRM, Internal Mobility, Career Sites, CMS, Chatbots, and AI. This enables the largest organizations in the world to eliminate multiple point solutions, reduce costs, and increase ROI for talent management and talent acquisition.

To learn more about TRM, download the TRM Value Guide .

About the Stevie Awards

Stevie Awards are conferred in seven programs: the Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, the German Stevie Awards, The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the Stevie Awards for Great Employers and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Stevie Awards competitions receive more than 10,000 nominations each year from organizations in more than 70 nations. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide.

Details about the Stevie Awards for Great Employers are available at www.Stevie-Awards.com/HR

About Comparably

Comparably is a compensation, culture, and career monitoring site in the US with the most comprehensive and uniquely structured data that can be segmented by gender, ethnicity, age, location, tenure, company size, equity, title/department, and education. The site has become a popular resource for employees to anonymously input and compare salaries, rate their workplace culture and CEOs, and match with their dream jobs. With 3 million ratings from half a million employees across 30,000 US companies, approximately 5,000 businesses use Comparably's employer branding and jobs tools to recruit and retain talent.

Details about the Comparably Awards are available at www.comparably.com/blog/tag/leadership-awards-2018/

About Phenom People

Phenom People is redefining what it means to search for a job and recruit top talent. We are the global leader in Talent Relationship Marketing (TRM), empowering talent acquisition and management teams to discover, engage, and retain talent through a single platform approach. Our platform is built on artificial intelligence (AI) which drives personalization, automation, and accuracy for all of the stakeholders in the talent lifecycle. We believe people should be happy and inspired by their jobs  just as we are. That simple belief fuels our collective desire to fundamentally transform talent acquisition.

For more information, please visit www.phenompeople.com to learn more about Talent Relationship Marketing.

Note to editors: Trademarks and registered trademarks referenced herein remain the property of their respective owners.

Media Contact:

Derek Herman

Phenom People

derek.herman@phenompeople.com

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/71146f4f-917a-480a-a979-27b7425088c5

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/266ab612-2045-4e35-a8be-7db7fa18f128
NEW YORK, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Levi & Korsinsky announces it has commenced an investigation of Venator Materials PLC (NYSE: VNTR) concerning possible breaches of fiduciary duty. To obtain additional information, go to:



https://www.zlk.com/pslra-1/venator-materials-plc-loss-form

or contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. either via email at jlevi@levikorsinsky.com or by telephone at (212) 363-7500, toll-free: (877) 363-5972. There is no cost or obligation to you.

Levi & Korsinsky is a national firm with offices in New York, Connecticut, California, and Washington D.C. The firms attorneys have extensive expertise in prosecuting securities litigation involving financial fraud, representing investors throughout the nation in securities lawsuits and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for aggrieved shareholders. For more information, please feel free to contact any of the attorneys listed below. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Levi & Korsinsky, LLP

Joseph E. Levi, Esq.

55 Broadway, 10th Floor

New York, NY 10006

Tel: (212) 363-7500

Toll Free: (877) 363-5972

Fax: (212) 363-7171

www.zlk.com
OGDEN, Utah, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TAB Bank is pleased to announce it has provided a $4 million revolving credit facility for a technology company located in New Jersey. The new facility is extended through a multi-year agreement and will provide for the companys ongoing working capital needs.



The company is a leading professional services company providing enterprise-wide technology solutions to a myriad of industry sectors.

TAB Bank provides custom working capital solutions to commercial businesses across a wide range of industries. These solutions can be customized to meet the needs of companies in all stages of the business life cycle and during any economic conditions. TAB Bank does this through a variety of asset-based structures including Asset-Based Revolving Loans, Accounts Receivable Financing, Lines of Credit, and Equipment Finance. TABs lending options can also be combined with a full suite of business banking solutions and Treasury Management Services.

Brett Horwitz is TAB Banks Vice President and Business Development Officer based in Southern California. Brett has years of experience developing client relationships and structuring credit facilities in the asset-based lending arena. Brett can be reached at 949.466.5255 or at brett.horwitz@tabbank.com .

Contact Information:
NEW YORK, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Levi & Korsinsky announces it has commenced an investigation of Super Micro Computer, Inc. (Super Micro Computer or the Company) (OTCMKTS: SMCI) concerning possible violations of federal securities laws.



On October 4, 2018, Bloomberg Businessweek published a news investigation chronicling a Chinese hack on government networks and major American technology companies. According to the investigation, the hacks stemmed from microchips added to hardware manufactured in China and sold by Super Micro in the United States: The chips had been inserted during the manufacturing process, [officials say], by operatives from a unit of the People's Liberation Army. In Super Micro, China's spies appear to have found a perfect conduit for what U.S. officials now describe as the most significant supply chain attack known to have been carried out against American companies. Following this news, shares of Super Micro fell from a close of $21.40 on October 3, 2018, to a close of $12.60 per share on October 4, 2018. To obtain additional information, go to:

https://www.zlk.com/pslra-1/super-micro-computer-inc-loss-form

or contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. either via email at jlevi@levikorsinsky.com or by telephone at (212) 363-7500, toll-free: (877) 363-5972.

Levi & Korsinsky is a national firm with offices in New York, California, Connecticut and Washington D.C. The firms attorneys have extensive expertise in prosecuting securities litigation involving financial fraud, representing investors throughout the nation in securities and shareholder lawsuits. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
STOUFFVILLE, Ontario, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, 48 dogs and puppies and 23 cats and kittens from remote Northern communities are arriving at Ontario SPCA animal centres and affiliate SPCAs and humane societies around the province to be adopted through the Ontario SPCAs Year of the Northern Dog program.



On this dog transfer, the Ontario SPCA and Northern Ontario animal wellness partners relocated animals from Naotkamegwanning First Nation (Whitefish Bay) and other Northern communities. The Ontario SPCA has been partnering with Naotkamegwanning First Nation since 2015 to support dogs and provide resources such as spay/neuter services.

When the Ontario SPCA was in Naotkamegwanning First Nation to transfer the dogs and puppies, the Society also participated in cultural ceremonies and provided humane education and bylaw consultation.

These are customized solutions developed with community leadership, with the objective of building a healthy community for animals and people, says Daryl Vaillancourt, Senior Director, Humane Programs and Community Outreach, Ontario SPCA.

After setting out on Wednesday for their long journey south, the dogs and cats are now arriving at Ontario SPCA Animal Centres in Sudbury, Barrie, Midland, Orillia, Muskoka, Orangeville, Stouffville, Cornwall, Pembroke, Napanee and Brockville where they will be placed up for adoption. The Peterborough Humane Society and Brant County SPCA will also be welcoming dogs into their adoption programs.

The issue of Northern dog overpopulation continues to be a major challenge across Canada. A lack of basic animal wellness services has created an abundance of dogs in the North, who need resources and support.

This has been an extremely successful program, as we have seen over 200 dogs relocated and adopted by families in 2018. Spay and neuter clinics are also having a lasting and positive impact in these communities. The Ontario SPCA continues to encourage Northern communities to collaborate on a proactive and effective approach, continues Vaillancourt.

The transfer was made possible thanks to the vision and leadership of the communities, as well as a partnership with Northern Reach Rescue Network, Second Chance Pet Network, the Peterborough Humane Society, Brant County SPCA and Northern Legacy Horse Farm, which transports dogs aboard its Bark Bus.

The Ontario SPCA has delivered animal wellness services and provided transfers from close to 30 Northern communities this year in celebration of the Year of the Northern Dog program. To bring awareness, attention and action to Northern dog overpopulation, the Ontario SPCA declared 2018 the Year of the Northern Dog.

For more information, including how you can get involved, visit northerndog.com .





Media Contact:

Melissa Kosowan

Ontario SPCA

mkosowan@ospca.on.ca

289-383-5968

Ontario SPCA and Humane Society:

Protecting animals since 1873, Ontario SPCA is Ontario's animal welfare organization. A registered charity comprised of close to 50 communities .

Since 1919, when Ontario's first animal welfare legislation was proclaimed, the Ontario SPCA, with the help of its Communities , has been entrusted to maintain and enforce animal welfare legislation. The Act provides Ontario SPCA Agents and Inspectors with police powers to do so.

Ontario SPCA provides leadership in animal welfare innovations including introducing high-volume spay/neuter services to Ontario and opening the Provincial Education & Animal Centre .

OntarioSPCA.ca

Adopt  Learn  Volunteer  Donate

Charitable Business Number 88969 1044 RR0002

Photos accompanying this announcement is available at

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a1ec3ca8-eb4e-4f3a-96e0-217f703b9619

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ce201295-5d29-42e9-bb3d-94ddfae10d51

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/b717dafa-27e3-4f34-a43a-4c748d09e0ea

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/94d06adf-e718-49ce-9f13-bc93bd708e4f
CLAWSON, Mich., Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For Katrina Hill, opening her own small business is a dream come true. Katrina is ready to serve the business community of Clawson with the highest levels of quality and service through her locally owned and operated International Minute Press design, marketing, and printing franchise, which recently held its grand opening in September.

Katrina says, "Right here in Clawson, we offer a quality that International Minute Press is known for. We are able to use a business name, image, or logo on items that they need to run or promote their business. This includes everything from banners to signs, shirts to promotional items, and business cards to posters, along with direct mail services."

With International Minute Press, clients will receive a personal touch from a team that cares about the success of other businesses. Katrina explains, "The most rewarding thing about owning this business is that I can watch a business we work with grow. People have to see a business and feel a business to know it exists, and we help our clients do that. When something is printed and you have that item in your hands, it creates a tangible connection and tells you more that you ever thought."

Getting involved in the community is important to Katrina. She says, "I believe every business should be involved with the community. They are supporting us so we should do the same. Thats what makes it a community. I joined the Clawson Chamber of Commerce, became a friend of the Rotary Club, and joined a local BNI group. When I came to Clawson, the first thing I did was volunteer for the parade. It was so much fun!"

While owning a business is new to Katrina, entrepreneurship is something that she grew up around and was instilled in her by her family. She states, "My parents owned several franchises that I worked for since I was thirteen." Katrina's background also includes ten years in retail, seven years as a stay-at-home mom, and 16 years in banking in the compliance sector.

The reason International Minute Press in Clawson stood out to Katrina was because of the local support that is provided by her franchisor Minuteman Press International. She explains, "After attending a franchise expo in Virginia, I researched several franchises including Minuteman Press International. One of the main reasons I focused more on this opportunity was the consistency of their support that they provide to ensure the franchisees do well. The other was financial. From one perspective, as a franchise, they were very sound financially, especially year after year. The other, as a franchise, they helped you with everything from financing to opening your doors."

Katrina reflects on her decision, saying, "I have met so many people and other local business owners. Everyone has been so welcoming and I appreciate that. Opening my business in Clawson was exactly what I was supposed to do."

International Minute Press is located at 640 W 14 Mile Rd., Clawson, MI 48017. For more information, call Katrina and her team at 248-629-4220 or visit their website: www.clawson-mi.intlminutepress.com

About Minuteman Press International

Minuteman Press International, which operates as International Minute Press in Michigan, is the number one rated business marketing and printing franchise that offers world class training and unparalleled ongoing local support. Started in 1973 by Roy Titus and his son Bob, Minuteman Press International began franchising in 1975 and has grown to nearly 1,000 business service franchise locations worldwide including the U.S., Australia, Canada, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. Minuteman Press International is ranked #1 in category by Entrepreneur 26 times and 15 years in a row, including 2018. Franchise Business Review has also named Minuteman Press International to its 2018 Top Franchises, 2018 Top Franchise Leaders, and 2018 Top Franchises for Women lists thanks to positive reviews from our owners .

At Minuteman Press International, We Are The Modern Printing Industry  providing high quality products and services that meet the needs of today's business professionals and go way beyond ink on paper. Today, our centers offer innovative branding solutions and produce custom designs, promotional products, branded apparel, direct mail marketing, large format printing (banners and posters), signs and graphics, and much more. Prior experience is not necessary to own and operate a successful Minuteman Press International franchise.

To learn more about #1 rated franchise opportunities and speak with one of our experienced franchise representatives at no obligation, call 1-800-645-3006.

Attachment
NEW YORK, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Levi & Korsinsky announces it has commenced an investigation of Jianpu Technology Inc. (Jianpu or the Company) (NYSE: JT) concerning possible violations of federal securities laws.



On November 16, 2017, Jianpu conducted its Initial Public Offering of American Depositary Shares at a price of $8.00 per share. On November 21, 2017, Chinese regulators banned the issuance of new online peer-to-peer licenses, citing improper and illegal practices by lenders such as Qudian and PPDAI. On this news, Jianpus share price fell more than 30 percent to close at just $4.90 per share on November 24, 2017. To obtain additional information, go to:

https://www.zlk.com/pslra-1/jianpu-technology-inc-loss-form

or contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. either via email at jlevi@levikorsinsky.com or by telephone at (212) 363-7500, toll-free: (877) 363-5972.

Levi & Korsinsky is a national firm with offices in New York, California, Connecticut and Washington D.C. The firms attorneys have extensive expertise in prosecuting securities litigation involving financial fraud, representing investors throughout the nation in securities and shareholder lawsuits. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
English French

PRESS RELEASE 2018/10/05

RENAULT BOARD OF DIRECTORS PROPOSES THE APPOINTMENT OF MR. THOMAS COURBE AS DIRECTOR

Boulogne-Billancourt, October 5, 2018 - Mr. Pascal Faure, who has served on Groupe Renault's Board of Directors as representative of the French State since February 2013, has decided to resign from his office as Director.

During its meeting held on October 5, 2018, the Board of Directors, taking notice of Mr. Pascal Faure's resignation, decided on the proposal of the Appointments and Governance Committee to co-opt Mr. Thomas Courbe as Director replacing Mr. Pascal Faure, for the remainder of his term of office, i.e. until the close of the Annual General Meeting called to approve the 2020 financial statements.

Biography of Mr. Thomas Courbe

A graduate of the Ecole nationale superieure de l'aeronautique et de l'espace, Mr. Thomas Courbe held several offices within the Ministry of Defense and of the Economy and Finance ministries.

He served as General Secretary of the Club de Paris from 2007 to 2009 and as Deputy Director of Bilateral Relations for the General Management of the Treasury and for the Economic Policy from 2009 to 2010.

Between 2010 and 2012 he served as Director of the Office of the State Secretary in charge with Foreign Trade and Deputy Director of the Offices of the Economy, Finance and Industry ministries.

Mr. Thomas Courbe has served as Deputy Director of the Treasury since September 2015. From August 27, 2018, he succeeded Mr. Pascal Faure as directeur general des entreprises.

***

About Groupe Renault

Groupe Renault has been making cars since 1898. Today it is an international, multi-brand group combining the Renault, Dacia and Renault Samsung Motors, Alpine and LADA brands. In 2017, it sold close to 3.76 million vehicles through 12,700 outlets in 134 countries. Groupe Renault employs more than 180,000 people and operates 36 manufacturing facilities worldwide. To address the major technological challenges of the future and pursue profitable growth, Renault focuses on international development. It is harnessing complementary coverage across its five brands; electric vehicles; and its unique alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi. With its Formula 1 team, Renault is active in motorsport as a powerful force behind innovation, image and brand recognition.

For more Information:

Frederic TEXIER

Director Press Service

+33 (0) 1 76 84 33 67

+33 (0) 6 10 78 49 20

frederic.texier@renault.com

GROUPE RENAULT

PRESS OFFICE

Tel.: +33 (0) 1 76 84 63 36

renault.media@renault.com

Websites: www.media.renault.com - www.group.renault.com

Follow us on Twitter: @Groupe_Renault
NEW YORK, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NEWMEDIAWIRE -- Weyland Tech Inc. (OTCQX: WEYL) (Weyland or the Company) announced today that it has been informed by DTC that it has released to its participants, on its Corporate Action Web (CA Web) Data Service, an Important Notice with the details and processing instructions for the Companys spin-off, which is being processed directly by the Company outside of DTC. With the issuance of this Important Notice by DTC, all DTC participants should now have received the Companys instructions for processing the spin-off.



If any banks/brokers have not yet received the Companys spin-off processing instructions through the DTC Important Notice, they can also receive the spin-off processing instructions by making a request by email directly to the Company. The contact details for such requests, and any other inquiries from banks/brokers or shareholders regarding the spin-off, are as follows:

Email: spin-off@weyland-tech.com

Tel: 347.566.4334

As a reminder to banks/brokers and shareholders, the relevant dates for the spin-off are as follows:

Record Date: October 12, 2018

October 12, 2018 Bank/Broker Deadline for Submission of Beneficial Owner Lists: October 26, 2018

October 26, 2018 Distribution Date: November 30, 2018

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 AtozPay 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.




Not for distribution to United States newswire services or for dissemination in the United States



VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CROPS Inc. (TSXV:COPS) announces that it proposes, subject to stock exchange approval, to complete a non-brokered private placement financing of up to 10.0 million units at $0.05 per unit, for proceeds of up to $500,000. Each unit will consist of one common share and one full warrant, each warrant entitling the holder to purchase one additional common share of the Company at $0.05 for one year from closing.



The proceeds of the placement are intended to be used for general working capital purposes.

The securities referred to in this news release have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of such Act. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell, nor the solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities. Any public offering of securities in the United States must be made by means of a prospectus containing detailed information about the company and management, as well as financial statements.

About CROPS

CROPS is developing the Bayovar 12 phosphate deposit located 40 km from the coast in the Sechura District of northern Peru. Bayovar 12 hosts a large resource of highly-reactive sedimentary phosphate rock - a key raw material input for phosphate fertilizers and vital to world food production. Reactive phosphate rock from Sechura is a natural, slow-release source of phosphorus that can be applied directly to crops. As well, elemental phosphorus from Bayovar 12 can be used in various industrial applications.

For further information, please visit our web site www.crop2o5.com .

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Simon Ridgway, Chief Executive Officer

Symbol: TSXV-COPS

Shares Issued: 58.7 million

For further information, contact:



Gordon Tainton, President

Tel: 604-248-8380; Fax: 604-682-1514

Email: info@crop2o5.com

Website: www.crop2o5.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 and include, without limitation, statements about the Companys Bayovar 12 project, and the proposed private placement. 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 relate to, among other things, information regarding the Companys plans for the Bayovar 12 project; completing the private placement on the terms stated; the expenditure of the financing proceeds as planned; 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 Companys stated goals for the Bayovar 12 project will be achieved; that the Company will complete the private placement on the terms stated; that the Company will spend the financing proceeds as planned; that there will be no material adverse change affecting the Company or its 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.
The White House wants to eliminate the "Treaty of Amity" signed in 1955. According to the CIG, the punitive measures of the US violate the terms of the agreement. For t judges, blocs on the entry of basic necessities must be lifted. The relationship between the Trump administration and international justice bodies increasingly tense.

Tehran (AsiaNews) - The United States intends to cancel the ten-year "Amity Treaty" signed in the middle of the last century with Iran, at the time when the country was led by Shah Reza Pahlavi then expelled by the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

The agreement signed in 1955 before the ascent of the ayatollahs, was exploited in recent months by Tehran to bring a lawsuit against Washington at the International Court of Justice (CIG, also known as the International Court in The Hague).

At the center of the controversy was the economic, diplomatic and commercial war launched by the US administration led by President Donald Trump. Last May, Washington imposed new sanctions, the toughest sanctions in history , after pulling out of the nuclear agreement (the JCPOA).

A decision that caused a significant drop in the Iranian economy and a collapse in oil sales, the goal of the second part of the sanctions that will be in force since 4 November. At the expense of it, it was primarily the weakest part of the population.

The trial at the highest UN judicial body opened on 27 August last and yesterday came the sentence of the judges, which is binding but without any coercive means for its implementation. The IGJ ruled in favor of Tehran, ordering the loosening of the American sanctions against the Islamic Republic because they violate the treaty of 1955 between the two nations.

the US reaction was immediate and furious undermining the relevance of the case brought to the International Court of Justice. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the cancellation of the treaty between Washington and Tehran, adding that "it is a decision that has been waiting for 39 years" (the reference is to 1979 and to the seizure of Khomeini and his allies) .

National Security Adviser John Bolton, one of the White House anti-Tehran hawks, added that all pacts exposing the United States to a dispute with the UN court will be "reviewed". Both then define Iranian claims as "groundless" and reject the decision of the IGC, whose task is to settle the disputes that arise between United Nations member states.

The judges of the International Court have ordered the cancellation of "every impediment" that blocks the entry into Iran of basic and humanitarian goods, including food and medicine. Secure air transport and guaranteed delivery of goods must also be guaranteed. However, the court rejected Tehran's request to eliminate all US sanctions, reserving its provisions for the means necessary for the survival of the population.

Analysts and experts point out that the decision taken by Washington to end the treaty is largely symbolic and without practical implications. And the same decision not to recognize a UN court ruling is not a first. While defending international law on paper, the US has often reacted negatively to the decisions of judges and bodies opposed to their interests. Over time he has developed a controversial relationship against the CICJand has never joined the International Criminal Court. The rise to power of Trump and the men of his administration have further widened this fracture.
Washington, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- During the 2019 Days of Remembrance, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum will confer its highest honor, the Elie Wiesel Award, to Serge and Beate Klarsfeld and the Syria Civil Defense, commonly known as The White Helmets. Given the urgency of a world where Holocaust denial and antisemitism are on the rise and where the situation in Syria remains dire, the Museum has decided to make an exception and grant two Elie Wiesel Awards next year. The awards will be presented at the Museums annual Tribute Dinner on April 29, 2019.



Established in 2011, the Elie Wiesel award recognizes internationally prominent individuals whose actions have advanced the Museums world of a vision where people confront hate, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. Elie Wiesel, the Museums founding chairman, was the first recipient of the award. Engraved on the award are words from Wiesels Nobel Prize acceptance speech, One person of integrity can make a difference.



Elie Wiesel said indifference always benefits the aggressor  never his victim, said Museum Chairman Howard Lorber. After World War II, when many in Europe wanted to avoid discussing their culpability during the Holocaust, the Klarsfelds refused to remain silent and sought to bring Nazi perpetrators to justice. Today, as the Assad regime ruthlessly targets its own citizens, the White Helmets risk their lives to save their fellow citizens. The courageous actions of all the honorees are the embodiment of Elies warning about the perils of indifference.

Serge and Beate Klarsfeld have demonstrated extraordinary leadership in the cause of Holocaust remembrance and singular leadership in combatting the impunity of perpetrators of the Holocaust era and advancing Holocaust memory and education. Serge played a key role in the prosecution of high ranking Nazi officials and French collaborators including Klaus Barbie, Rene Bousquet, Jean Leguay, Maurice Papon, and Paul Touvier. Beate Klarsfeld boldly confronted former Nazis serving in the West German government, and Serge Klarsfeld conducted path breaking research on child deportees and the Holocaust in France and Romania, including documenting the stories of thousands of French Jews sent to the gas chambers. The Klarsfelds have aggressively campaigned against antisemitism in Europe and the Middle East, and to confront massacres elsewhere, such as Sarajevo and Burundi.

At enormous risk to themselves and their families and in the face of horrific attacks by the Syrian government, the White Helmets have courageously saved lives and delivered critical services to a desperate population. The White Helmets is a volunteer organization comprised of people from all backgrounds  bankers, tailors, engineers, pharmacists, painters, carpenters, students, and many more  that operates in parts of Syria and Turkey. They conduct search and rescue operations in response to bombing and gas attacks, medical and other evacuations, and essential service delivery including reconnecting electrical cables, providing safety information to children, securing buildings and more. They are the largest civil society organization operating in areas outside of government control. The volunteers save people on all sides of the conflict. Their motto is To save one life is to save all of humanity. To date, 204 members of the White Helmets have been killed while saving more than 114,000 lives.

A living memorial to the Holocaust, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum inspires citizens and leaders worldwide to confront hatred, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. Its far-reaching educational programs and global impact are made possible by generous donors. For more information, visit ushmm.org.

###






TORONTO, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- kubik has been awarded the contract to contribute to the final design, prototype, fabrication and installation of the exhibit components of Science Norths permanent exhibition entitled, THINK. Science North is a leader among science centres providing inspirational, educational and entertaining science experiences. This will be the third project kubik will participate in for Science North in the past five years.

Inspired by the Maker Movement, THINK (which stands for Tinker, Hack, Innovate, Network and Know) will combine science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) to encourage hands-on experimentation with real tools, materials and processes. Visitors will be inspired to innovate, build skills, and complete meaningful activities, projects and challenges. The exhibits will allow visitors to experiment and discover physics concepts, engineering processes, and new technologies. Larger exhibits will challenge visitors to design, build, and test their own solutions. The Prototype Lab will offer specialized equipment to create innovative projects and designs.

kubik was chosen due to their knowledge of leading edge trends in the industry including the development of interactive electro-mechanical exhibits, reconfigurable/flexible exhibit design and fabrication, along with their trusted relationship and longevity of experience in the field. Julie Moskalyk, Science Director for Science North says, we are confident in our choice to have kubik on this important project for Science North. They are a proven partner for us with a practiced methodology, adapt at problem solving and can deliver the THINK project on time and on budget.

The THINK project represents a major renewal of 50% of Science Norths 4th floor. The renewal is significant because it will be a platform to expand Science Norths reach and depth of engagement with audiences of all ages and backgrounds, attracting new audiences as well as driving repeat visitors and increase memberships.

kubik will work collaboratively with the Science North development team and design team (Main Street Design and Hands On! Studio) to complete 100% Design Development, will complete the prototyping and shop drawings for selected exhibits, exhibit detailing and fabrication, project management and delivery, installation services. We are very pleased to be once again working with Science North and are inspired by their mandate to engage people of all ages to interact with science in the world around, says Sam Kohn, President and CEO of kubik. We make sure our efforts reflect that mandate and respect the objectives of the design in every step we take to complete their projects.

About kubik

kubik is shaping brand stories into the most extraordinary experiences in the world while exceeding customer expectations with ingenuity, enthusiasm, loyalty, innovation and a drive to succeed. With global offices and capabilities worldwide, kubik produces award-winning exhibits, events and museum environments of Fortune 500 companies and global brands for over 35 years. Maltbie, a kubik Company, is a preeminent leader of museum environments and specialty interiors. Both kubik and Maltbie, a kubik Company serve international clients with integrated global teams and facilities. For more information visit thinkubik.com or maltbie.com.

About Science North

An agency of the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, operating independently and governed by a Board of Trustees. A non-profit registered charity (#107962979RR0001) operating Canadas second and eighth largest science centres, both located in Sudbury, Ontario, as essential educational resources for the North.
TOPEKA, Kan., Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Addressing talent recruitment and retention challenges for Kansas employers was the common theme at the fourth annual Kansas Financial Services Summit, held September 26 at the Security Benefit headquarters in Topeka. From recent graduates leaving Kansas for better employment opportunities to drawing those same professionals back to the state when theyre ready to settle down, the event discussion kept coming back to the states talent gap. The fourth annual event hosted a record 200 attendees, who heard an afternoon of panel discussions from Kansas leaders on a variety of subjects. Key takeaways from the event include:

Talent crisis: The numbers are clear that there is a shortage of talent in Kansas and it's been a bit of a slow bleed, said Blake Flanders, president and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents, speaking on a panel about workforce development and retention. More than 50,000 jobs are advertised in Kansas, according to Flanders, but there is a disconnect between Kansas college graduates and employers: most big-name brands dont reside in Kansas, and graduates tend to flee the state as a result. Of the students we graduate, about half of them leave, Flanders said.

The numbers are clear that there is a shortage of talent in Kansas and it's been a bit of a slow bleed, said Blake Flanders, president and CEO of the Kansas Board of Regents, speaking on a panel about workforce development and retention. More than 50,000 jobs are advertised in Kansas, according to Flanders, but there is a disconnect between Kansas college graduates and employers: most big-name brands dont reside in Kansas, and graduates tend to flee the state as a result. Of the students we graduate, about half of them leave, Flanders said. Boomerang talent. New graduates leaving Kansas to explore is inevitable, but drawing them back to their roots to settle down can help ease the talent shortage, according to Cody Foster, Founder, Advisors Excel, Chair, Greater Topeka Partnership. As a target market, Foster cited young professionals who grew up in Kansas or went to college in the state, whose priorities change after theyve left the state for a few years and now have families. I think we could do a better job of selling the things that are huge positives to those people, he said.

New graduates leaving Kansas to explore is inevitable, but drawing them back to their roots to settle down can help ease the talent shortage, according to Cody Foster, Founder, Advisors Excel, Chair, Greater Topeka Partnership. As a target market, Foster cited young professionals who grew up in Kansas or went to college in the state, whose priorities change after theyve left the state for a few years and now have families. I think we could do a better job of selling the things that are huge positives to those people, he said. Innovation amid digital transformation. Todays increasingly digital world has caught up with Kansas, and the state must innovate to keep up and stay competitive, according to John Tomblin, Vice-President for Office of Research, Wichita State University; Executive Director, National Institute for Aviation Research. Tomblin cited Wichitas aviation industry as an example: the industry rested on its laurels for too long while the world advanced technologies in manufacturing. We went to sleep for 30 years saying, no one makes better aircraft than we do, Tomblin said. Now, the world is demanding innovation and a more sophisticated approach to businesses challenges. Tomblin cited the worlds largest 3D printer, which is located in Wichita, as a potential solution to these challenges plus the increasing demand for aircraft production. It can make a part thats 24 feet by 8 feet by 9 feet, he said of the 3D printer.

Todays increasingly digital world has caught up with Kansas, and the state must innovate to keep up and stay competitive, according to John Tomblin, Vice-President for Office of Research, Wichita State University; Executive Director, National Institute for Aviation Research. Tomblin cited Wichitas aviation industry as an example: the industry rested on its laurels for too long while the world advanced technologies in manufacturing. We went to sleep for 30 years saying, no one makes better aircraft than we do, Tomblin said. Now, the world is demanding innovation and a more sophisticated approach to businesses challenges. Tomblin cited the worlds largest 3D printer, which is located in Wichita, as a potential solution to these challenges plus the increasing demand for aircraft production. It can make a part thats 24 feet by 8 feet by 9 feet, he said of the 3D printer. Bringing outside money into the region. The value of traded sectors can serve as an anchor of economic growth, said Marek Gootman, Fellow and Director of Strategic Partnerships and Global Initiatives, Metropolitan Policy Program, Brookings Institution. The Kansas state model is exactly right, because you have the multiplier effect for jobs or activities that sell outside the region, he said. Des Moines, for example, has the highest concentration of insurance technology in the country, according to Gootman, and has established itself in a very deliberate way around its workforce, setting an example for Topeka to continue to grow its financial services presence in the U.S. and beyond.

We are pleased to have hosted yet another successful Annual Kansas Financial Services Summit, said Mike Kiley, CEO of Security Benefit Corporation. It is clear that Kansas businesses are facing many important issues and that our states business leaders are taking steps to meet those challenges head on. We thank all of the participants in this years event and we look forward to growing the event even further in the years to come.

The Kansas Financial Services Summit was organized in partnership with Security Benefit, the Kansas Insurance Department, GO Topeka and the Kansas Department of Commerce. For more information about this years event, visit http://www.gotopeka.com/FinancialSummit/ . #KFSS18

About Security Benefit

Security Benefit Life Insurance Company, a Kansas-based insurance company that has been in business for more than 126 years, is a leader in the U.S. retirement market. Security Benefit together with its affiliates offers products in a full range of retirement markets and wealth segments for employers and individuals and held $38 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2017. Security Benefit continues its mission of helping Americans To and Through Retirement. www.securitybenefit.com .

Media Contacts:

Michael Castino, Director of Public Relations, Security Benefit

michael.castino@securitybenefit.com

Ryan Hoffman, Communications Strategy Group

rhoffman@wearecsg.com




DENVER, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The overhauled North American Free Trade Agreement, now named the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA, which is expected to be ratified next year, will accomplish some important objectives for U.S. agriculture. However, what was not accomplished in the agreement is just as important according to a new report from CoBanks Knowledge Exchange Division.

While having an agreement improves certainty, brings more market access and allows the White House to focus trade talks on fewer fronts, it does not provide a pathway to eliminate existing retaliatory tariffs  where industries such as dairy and pork have been hardest hit.

Canada and Mexico are the first and third largest export markets for U.S. agriculture, accounting for more than a quarter of all U.S. agriculture exports, said Dan Kowalski, vice president of CoBanks Knowledge Exchange Division. This agreement will advance the ball for some sectors, but for others, the deal represents a return to the status quo. Market access gains will be modest, but we expect the increased certainty to boost domestic and cross-border investment. However, Canada and Mexico still have tariffs in place that affect the U.S. dairy, pork and beef sectors. U.S. agriculture will have much more to celebrate when those barriers are removed.

The report, From NAFTA to USMCA: Implications of the New U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement for American Agribusiness, breaks down the impacts of the new agreement on U.S. agriculture by sector, and assesses the issues facing those sectors going forward.

To read the full report, click here.

About CoBank

CoBank is a $131 billion cooperative bank serving vital industries across rural America. The bank provides loans, leases, export financing and other financial services to agribusinesses and rural power, water and communications providers in all 50 states. The bank also provides wholesale loans and other financial services to affiliated Farm Credit associations serving more than 70,000 farmers, ranchers and other rural borrowers in 23 states around the country.

CoBank is a member of the Farm Credit System, a nationwide network of banks and retail lending associations chartered to support the borrowing needs of U.S. agriculture, rural infrastructure and rural communities. Headquartered outside Denver, Colorado, CoBank serves customers from regional banking centers across the U.S. and also maintains an international representative office in Singapore.

For more information about CoBank, visit the bank's website at cobank.com.
MISSISSAUGA, Ontario, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ENGIE Services Canada is pleased to announce the appointment of Luc Duguay as CEO of ENGIE MultiTech. Effective immediately, Luc Duguay, who was CFO of ENGIE Services Canada before accepting this challenge, is stepping into his new role following the departure of former MultiTech CEO Louie Cosolo. Located in the greater Toronto area, ENGIE Services MultiTech subsidiary is a multi-trade contractor that provides mechanical and electrical services. Luc Duguay will implement ENGIE Services Canadas ambitious plans to expand MultiTechs reach in the Greater Toronto Area and Canadian markets.



Luc Duguays vast experience within ENGIE Services Canada and his involvement in MultiTechs development since it was acquired in 2011, make him the ideal candidate to bring the companys plans to fruition. Since 2008, he has actively led various projects in both Canada and the U.S., including acquisitions throughout Canada. As a member of ENGIE Services Canadas executive management team, he worked on strategic initiatives and focused the finance, IT and procurement personnel to bring added-value services to the operations and business development teams. Following the acquisition, he continued to play an active part in the companys development.

I am excited to lead MultiTechs team of talented people to support the companys continued growth, said Luc Duguay.

Our potential is great in Canada, added Jean-Luc Billiani, President and CEO of ENGIE Services Canada. I am confident Luc Duguay will successfully spearhead the efforts that will help bring MultiTech into the next chapter of its development.

Luc Duguay will be relocating to the Greater Toronto Area to work with the MultiTech team at the companys office in Mississauga.

About ENGIE Services, Canada

ENGIE Services, Canada is a provider of energy efficiency, facility management services, contracting and outsourcing for companies and communities and is the parent company of ENGIE MultiTech, PBW High Voltage, ENGIE Transport Canada and Controles AC. ENGIE Services experts design, develop and manage tailored, smart and sustainable solutions to help our customers transition to a more cost efficient energy strategy.

ENGIE Services is part of ENGIE in North America, which manages a range of energy businesses in the U.S. and Canada, including clean power generation, cogeneration, and energy storage; retail energy sales; and energy optimization services, facility management, and mechanical and electrical construction. ENGIE (formerly GDF SUEZ) employs more than 150K people worldwide and achieved revenues of CAD 98.1 billion in 2017.

Marie-Claude Cabana

Director, Communications and Marketing

marie-claude.cabana@engie.com

1 877 455-8780, ext. 2554
Omaha, NE, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Immanuel is proud to be a leader in the field of retirement living and senior care services throughout the region. With a focus of supporting a mission of Christ-Centered Service to Seniors, Each Other and the Community, Immanuel has acquired The Shores at Pleasant Hill, a senior living community offering independent, assisted living, and memory support options in Des Moines, Iowa.



This community joins the Immanuel Pathways PACE center that opened in 2015 to better serve the seniors of Des Moines. Immanuel Pathways also offers PACE (Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly) centers in Omaha and Council Bluffs, Iowa. The Shores will be the organizations first senior living community in Iowa.



We are proud of our mission, said Eric Gurley, CEO of Immanuel. That mission led us to acquire The Shores, an organization that meets our expectations and makes us stronger. We are called to work together to elevate the standard of senior living options throughout the Midwest. We couldnt be more thrilled to welcome The Shores to the Immanuel family, and continue expanding in Des Moines.



The acquisition was effective Oct. 1, 2018. The Shores staff will continue their existing compassionate care for residents, which will now be backed by the expertise of Immanuel, a regional leader in senior living.

It was clear from the start that this transition would be seamless, said Mark Iverson, Immanuel vice president of operations. Exceptional business practices and aligning missions means continued excellence for community seniors.



Since 1887 Immanuel has been providing Christ-Centered Service to Seniors, Each Other and the Community. As a not-for-profit, serving arm of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America) Immanuels house of brands includes: Immanuel Communities, Immanuel Pathways, Immanuel Community Foundation and The Immanuel Vision Foundation. More about Immanuels brands: Immanuel Communities owns and operates 13 independent living, assisted living and long-term care retirement communities on eight campuses; Immanuel Pathways operates three PACE Centers in Iowa and Neb.; the Immanuel Community Foundation, a Resident Assistance Fund provides financial assistance to independent living residents; and the Immanuel Vision Foundation extends financial support to non-profit, charitable 501(c)(3) organizations that share purposes in alignment with Immanuels service centered mission.

Attachment
NEW YORK, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pzena Investment Management, Inc. (NYSE: PZN) today announced that it will hold a conference call to discuss the Companys financial results and outlook at 10:00 a.m. ET, Friday, October 19, 2018. The call will be open to the public.



Webcast Instructions: To gain access to the webcast, which will be "listen-only," go to the Events page in the Investor Relations area of the Companys website, www.pzena.com.

Teleconference Instructions: To gain access to the conference call via telephone, U.S. callers should dial 844-378-6482; Canada callers should dial 855-669-9657; international callers should dial 412-317-5106. Please reference the Pzena Investment Management call.

Replay: The conference call will be available for replay through November 2, 2018, on the web using the information given above.

About Pzena

Pzena Investment Management, LLC, the firms operating company, is a value-oriented investment management firm. Founded in 1995, Pzena Investment Management has built a diverse, global client base. More firm and stock information is posted at www.pzena.com.
NEW YORK, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Brookfield Global Listed Infrastructure Income Fund Inc. (NYSE: INF) and Brookfield Real Assets Income Fund Inc. (NYSE: RA) (each, a Fund, and collectively, the Funds) today announced that their Boards of Directors declared their monthly distributions for October, November and December 2018.



Brookfield Global Listed Infrastructure Income Fund Inc.

Month Record Date Ex Date Payable Date Amount per Share October 2018 October 17, 2018 October 16, 2018 October 25, 2018 $0.0817 November 2018 November 14, 2018 November 13, 2018 November 21, 2018 $0.0817 December 2018 December 19, 2018 December 18, 2018 December 27, 2018 $0.0817

Brookfield Real Assets Income Fund Inc.

Month Record Date Ex Date Payable Date Amount per Share October 2018 October 17, 2018 October 16, 2018 October 25, 2018 $0.1990 November 2018 November 14, 2018 November 13, 2018 November 21, 2018 $0.1990 December 2018 December 19, 2018 December 18, 2018 December 27, 2018 $0.1990

Shares purchased on or after the ex-distribution date will not receive the distribution discussed above. Please contact your financial advisor with any questions. Distributions may include net investment income, capital gains and/or return of capital. Any portion of the Funds distributions that is a return of capital does not necessarily reflect the Funds investment performance and should not be confused with yield or income. The tax status of distributions will be determined at the end of the taxable year.

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-strategy real asset solutions 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.

Brookfield Global Listed Infrastructure Income Fund Inc. and Brookfield Real Assets Income Fund Inc. are managed by Brookfield Investment Management Inc. The Funds use their website as a channel of distribution of material company information. Financial and other material information regarding the Funds are routinely posted on and accessible at www.brookfield.com .
NEW YORK, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Japan Smaller Capitalization Fund, Inc. (NYSE: JOF) (the Fund) announced that it will hold its 2018 Annual Meeting of Shareholders (the Meeting) at the offices of Nomura Asset Management U.S.A. Inc., Worldwide Plaza, 309 West 49th Street, 28th Floor, New York, New York, on Tuesday, November 20, 2018, at 10:30 A.M. to consider the election of two Directors to serve as Class III Directors, to serve for a term to expire in 2021 and a shareholder proposal to declassify the Funds Board of Directors. The record date for determining shareholders entitled to participate in the Meeting was September 21, 2018.



The Fund invests primarily in the securities of smaller capitalization companies in Japan and is designed for investors seeking long-term capital appreciation. The Manager of the Fund is Nomura Asset Management U.S.A. Inc., which is based in New York. Nomura Asset Management U.S.A. Inc. is a subsidiary of Nomura Asset Management Co., Ltd., which is one of the largest investment advisory companies in Japan in terms of assets under management and which serves as the Investment Adviser to the Fund.



Contact:

Maria R. Premole

Nomura Asset Management U.S.A. Inc.

Worldwide Plaza

309 West 49th Street

New York, NY 10019

(800) 833-0018
TORONTO, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- On October 3, 2018, Sasha Jacob acquired ownership or control of an aggregate of 49,800,000 common shares (Common Shares) in the capital of Biome Grow Inc. (the Company or Biome), representing approximately 46.4% of the Companys issued and outstanding Common Shares, in connection with the closing of a three-cornered amalgamation transaction (the Transaction) made pursuant to an amalgamation agreement dated April 25, 2018 among Biome, Cultivator Catalyst Corp. (CCC) and 1151856 B.C. Ltd. (the Amalgamation Agreement). Immediately prior to the closing of the Transaction, Sasha Jacob did not hold securities of the Company.



Pursuant to the Amalgamation Agreement, the Company indirectly acquired all of the issued and outstanding securities of CCC in exchange for securities in the capital of the Company, constituting a fundamental change of the Company within the meaning of the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange (the Exchange). In connection with the Transaction, the Company changed its name to Biome Grow Inc. and consolidated its Common Shares on the basis of one post-consolidation Common Share for every 50 pre-consolidation Common Shares, together with a corresponding and equal consolidation of the Company's issued and outstanding common share purchase warrants. Pursuant to an Exchange bulletin issued on October 4, 2018, the Common Shares will resume trading on the Exchange under the new symbol BIO on October 9, 2018.

In connection with the Transaction, CCC common shareholders received five Common Shares for each common share of CCC held and the sole CCC special class C shareholder received one special class C share in the capital of the Company (Special Class C Shares), resulting in an aggregate of 106,164,475 Common Shares and one Special Class C Share being issued to former CCC shareholders. In addition, all of the outstanding common share purchase warrants of CCC were exchanged for common share purchase warrants of the Company on a five-for-one basis and on substantially similar economic terms and conditions as previously issued. Following the completion of the Transaction, CCC is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. The Company will conduct the principal business of CCC, as described in greater detail in the Listing Statement (a copy of which is available on SEDAR).

Effective on the closing of the Transaction, Brian Gusko resigned as Chief Executive Officer of the Company and was replaced by Khurram Malik and David Schwartz resigned as Secretary of the Company. Brian Gusko, Christine Mah and Nigel Alexander Horsley also resigned as directors of the Company and were replaced by Khurram Malik, George Smitherman, Brett James, J. Mark Lievonen and Steven Poirier. Abbey Abdiye remains the Companys Chief Financial Officer.

Sasha Jacob holds its securities in Biome for investment purposes and may, in the future increase or decrease its ownership of securities in Biome directly or indirectly from time to time depending upon the business and prospects of Biome and future market conditions.

Biome maintains its principal office at 480 University Avenue, Suite 1401, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1V2.

An early warning report to be filed in conjunction with this news release will be available under Biomes SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.

For further information or to obtain a copy of the report, please contact Alise Mills at 778-98-0267.

About Biome

Biome has four wholly-owned subsidiaries including: Highland Grow Inc., a licensed producer in Nova Scotia under Canadas Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (ACMPR); P-209 Inc., a company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario and in the late stages of applying for a license under the ACMPR; The Back Home Medical Cannabis Corporation, a company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador and in the late stages of applying for a license under the ACMPR; and, Weed Virtual Retail Inc., a company incorporated under the laws of the Province of Ontario in the business of operating a new virtual reality technology platform focused exclusively on the medical and recreational cannabis markets.

For further information, please contact:

Alise Mills

amills@sussex-strategy.com

778-928-0267
MEM (Middle East Monitor)

Egypt yesterday announced the arrival of the first electric bus from China which will service the Alexandria Corniche Road.

Local media, including the state-run Al-Akhbar newspaper, reported that the first electric bus has arrived in the port of Alexandria coming from the port of Shanghai, China, as part of supply contract that includes 15 electric buses.

The new bus is scheduled to enter the transport system after a three-month trial, said Khalid Eliwa, chairman of the General Authority for Passenger Transport in Alexandria.

The electric bus can carry 90 passengers and its batteries can be charged every three to four hours, allowing it to travel 250 kilometres without air-conditioning or 210 kilometres with air conditioning on, he said.

READ: Egypt strikes deal for greater investment from China

After the three month trial, he added, Egypt will be ready to receive the 14 other buses which were agreed upon, to ensure the highest performance under the Egyptian weather.

Egypt signed a contract for the supply of 15 electric buses from China in January making it the first country in the Middle East to operate such buses.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- via NetworkWire  Hunter Oil Corp. (OTCQX: HOILF; TSX-V: HOC) (the "Company) is pleased to announce that it has completed the previously announced return of capital distribution of USD $1.25 (CAD $1.625) per common share.



The distribution represents substantially all of the proceeds received by the Company from the sale of the Companys assets announced August 31, 2018, less outstanding liabilities and a reserve for working capital.

In an effort to control costs, the Company announces that effective October 31, 2018, the Company is closing its Houston office and will consolidate management functions in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Companys address is:

Hunter Oil Corp.

1040 West Georgia Street, Suite 940

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6E 4H1

Telephone: (604) 689-3355

In connection with the sale of the Companys assets and the relocation of the Companys offices, Al H. Denson, Rick Powers and Mark Strawn, all of whom were based in Texas, have resigned as the Companys CEO, CFO and Vice-President, respectively. Andrew Hromyk, the Companys Executive Chair, has been appointed as the Companys Chief Executive Officer. The Company is seeking a suitable CFO candidate and anticipates having in place an interim CFO, based in Vancouver, in the immediate future. The Company thanks Messrs. Denson, Strawn and Powers for their service to the Company and wishes them the best in their future endeavors.

The Company now plans to seek to locate, evaluate and where advisable negotiate to acquire interests in additional oil and gas properties. There is no guarantee that the Company will be able to identify suitable oil and gas prospects, or that the Company will be able to negotiate acceptable terms for any prospects that it identifies. The TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) may transfer the Company to the NEX, a separate board of the TSXV, if the Company fails to meet the ongoing minimum listing requirements of the TSXV.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Andrew Hromyk

Chief Executive Officer

(604) 689-3355

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.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain information provided in this press release constitutes forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Specifically, and without limitation, this press release contains forward-looking statements and information relating to the timing of Distribution and the Companys future plans. Forwardlooking information typically contains statements with words such as anticipate, believe, forecast, expect, plan, intend, estimate, propose, project, or similar words suggesting future outcomes. The Company cautions readers and prospective investors in the Companys securities not to place undue reliance on forwardlooking information as, by its nature, it is based on current expectations regarding future events that involve a number of assumptions, inherent risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the Company. In respect of the forward-looking statements and information set out in this new release, the Company has provided such in reliance on certain assumptions that it believes are reasonable at this time, including assumptions as to the ability of the Company to identify and secure the services of an interim CFO. The Exchange may also transfer the Company to the NEX. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the Company. In addition, while the Company plans to locate, evaluate and where advisable negotiate to acquire interests in additional oil and gas properties, there are no guarantees that the Company will be able to identify suitable oil and gas prospects, or that the Company will be able to negotiate acceptable terms for any prospects that it identifies.

The Company cautions readers that this list of factors is not exhaustive and that should certain risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying estimates or assumptions prove incorrect, actual events, performance and results may vary significantly from those expected. There can be no assurance that the actual results, performance, events or activities anticipated by the Company will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, the Company. Readers are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating forward-looking information and forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information or forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements and forward-looking information are made as of the date hereof, and the Company disclaims any obligation to update any such factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the forward-looking statements and forward-looking information contained herein to reflect future results, events or developments. You should also carefully consider the matters discussed under Risk Factors in the Companys managements discussion and analysis filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
NEW YORK, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP is investigating claims on behalf of investors of Tribune Media Company (Tribune or the Company) (NYSE: TRCO). Such investors are advised to contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888-476-6529, ext. 9980.



The investigation concerns whether Tribune and certain of its officers and/or directors have engaged in securities fraud or other unlawful business practices.

[Click here to join a class action]

In May 2017, Tribune and Sinclair Broadcasting Group, Inc. (Sinclair) announced a prospective merger of the two companies (the Merger). On July 16, 2018, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai issued a statement expressing serious concerns about the Merger. In particular, Chairman Pai stated that certain station divestitures that have been proposed to the FCC would allow Sinclair to control those stations in practice, even if not in name, in violation of the law. Chairman Pais statement signaled that Sinclair was not agreeing to the regulatory requirements necessary to complete the Merger, although Tribune had discussed these station divestitures repeatedly in its public filings since the May 2017 announcement of the Merger.

On this news, Tribunes stock price fell $6.44, or 16.7%, to close at $32.12 on July 16, 2018.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com.



CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

rswilloughby@pomlaw.com

888-476-6529 ext. 9980




VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Strongbow Exploration Inc. (TSX-V: SBW) (Strongbow or the Company) announces that Mr. John Burzynski will be stepping down from his role as Director effective today. The Company would like to thank Mr. Burzynski for his tremendous efforts and support in advancing Strongbow and the South Crofty project. John will join Strongbows Technical Advisory Committee in a continuing role with the Company.



Strongbow is pleased to announce that Mr. Don Njegovan, Vice President, New Business Development at Osisko Mining Inc. will be joining Strongbows board of directors to replace Mr. Burzynski. Mr. Njegovan brings a wealth of mining and banking experience to the Strongbow board. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mining Engineering from Michigan Technological University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Manitoba. Mr. Njegovan has over 20 years of experience in the mining industry, starting work underground in 1989 for Hudson Bay Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd. He was formerly Managing Director of Global Mining at Scotiabank (2010  2014), was an investment banker at Toll Cross Securities Inc. (2005  2010) and was a former director of St. Andrew Goldfields until it was acquired by Kirkland Lake Gold in 2016. Don currently serves on the board of directors of Sable Resources and Ascot Resources Ltd.

For additional information please contact: Irene Dorsman at (604) 210 8752 or by e-mail at idorsman@strongbowexploration.com or Sherman Dahl of Pretium Communications at (250) 558 8340.

Blytheweigh (Financial PR/IR-London) Tel: +44 207 138 3204 Tim Blythe tim.blythe@blytheweigh.com Camilla Horsfall camilla.horsfall@blytheweigh.com



ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Richard D. Williams

Richard D. Williams, P.Geo

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.
Not for distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or for release, publication, distribution or dissemination directly, or indirectly, in whole or in part, in or into the United States.

CALGARY, Alberta, Oct. 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- IGC Resources Inc. (IGC or the Company) (TSXV: IGC.H) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an amalgamation agreement with Westleaf Cannabis Inc. (Westleaf) and 2147378 Alberta Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of IGC (IGC Subco) dated October 4, 2018 (the Amalgamation Agreement), whereby the business and assets of Westleaf and IGC will be combined by way of a three corned amalgamation between Westleaf, IGC and IGC Subco in accordance with the Business Corporations Act (Alberta) (the Proposed Transaction). Upon completion of the Proposed Transaction, the issuer resulting from the Proposed Transaction (the Resulting Issuer) will carry on the business previously carried on by Westleaf. It is anticipated that upon completion of the Proposed Transaction the Resulting Issuer will be listed as Tier 2 Life Sciences Issuer under the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the TSXV or the Exchange).

General Information About Westleaf, IGC and IGC Subco

Westleaf Cannabis Inc. (Westleaf) is a private vertically integrated cannabis company focused on innovative retail experiences, engaging cannabis brands, and premium cannabis production. Westleaf is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta and was incorporated pursuant to the provisions of the Business Corporations Act (Alberta) (ABCA) on August 22, 2017. Since incorporation Westleaf has used its funds to execute its vertically integrated business plan, which includes applying for prospective cannabis retail stores in privatized markets across Canada, developing an extraction and processing facility in Calgary, Alberta and developing a large scale indoor cannabis cultivation facility located in Battleford Saskatchewan. Westleaf is developing a national retail footprint for its retail concept Prairie Records, which leverages the instinctual tie of recreational cannabis and music and redefines the cannabis purchasing experience.

IGC was incorporated in 1992 under the laws of British Columbia, and its registered office located in Vancouver, British Columbia. Originally named International Green Ice Inc., on July 21, 2004, the Company changed its name from International Green Ice Inc. to IGC Resources Inc. IGCs previous principal business activities included the exploration and evaluation of natural resource properties in Canada. IGC does not currently have an active business and was moved from the TSXV to the NEX board of the TSXV on July 10, 2014 due to its inability to meet the TSXV Tier 2 listing requirements.

IGC Subco was incorporated pursuant to the provisions of the ABCA on October 4, 2018 and its head office and registered and records office is located in Calgary, Alberta. IGC Subco is a wholly-owned subsidiary of IGC, incorporated by IGC for the purpose of completing the Proposed Transaction.

As of the date of this press release, IGC, IGC Subco and Westleaf do not anticipate there being any person that will beneficially own or control, directly or indirectly, more than 10% of the voting rights attached to the common shares of the Resulting Issuer (the Resulting Issuer Shares), other than Thunderchild Developments Inc., a corporation existing in the Province of Saskatchewan, which is anticipated to hold 16,000,000 Resulting Issuer Shares, representing 18.61% of the Resulting Issuer Shares (excluding Resulting Issuer Shares issued in exchange for Westleaf Shares issued under the Private Placement (as defined below)). Chief Delbert Wapass, a current director of Westleaf, is the current chief of the Thunderchild First Nation and is a proposed director of the Resulting Issuer. No other person, either directly or indirectly, holds a controlling interest in or otherwise controls or directs Westleaf.

Shareholder Meetings

In connection with the Proposed Transaction, it is expected that the Company will hold an annual general and special meeting of its shareholders (the IGC Shareholder Meeting) to, among other items of business, approve resolutions to: (i) consolidate the issued and outstanding common shares of IGC (IGC Shares) on the basis of 2.9233 post-share consolidation IGC Shares for each one pre-share consolidation IGC Share (the IGC Share Consolidation) prior to closing of the Proposed Transaction (the Closing); (ii) approve a 20% fixed restricted share unit plan and 20% fixed stock option plan for IGC; (iii) continue the Company from under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) to under the ABCA (the IGC Continuance); (iv) fix the number of directors at 5; and (iv) elect the directors of IGC for the ensuing year.

It is not anticipated that the Proposed Transaction will be subject to approval of the IGC shareholders at this time. The shareholders of Westleaf will be required to approve the Proposed Transaction in accordance with the provisions of the ABCA.

The Proposed Transaction

Under the terms of the Amalgamation Agreement: (i) Westleaf and IGC Subco will amalgamate under the ABCA (the corporation continuing from such amalgamation, referred to as Amalco); (ii) all outstanding Westleaf stock options will become exercisable for an equivalent number of Resulting Issuer Shares in accordance with their terms; (iii) all outstanding Westleaf restricted share units issuable pursuant to Westleafs restricted share unit award plan, if any, will be cancelled and replaced with an equivalent number of restricted share units of IGC; (iv) all outstanding Westleaf common share purchase warrants will become exercisable for an equivalent number of Resulting Issuer Shares in accordance with their terms; (v) all outstanding Westleaf performance warrants, if any, will become exercisable for an equivalent number of Resulting Issuer Shares in accordance with their terms; (vi) each common share of Westleaf (each, a Westleaf Share) will be cancelled and replaced by one fully paid and non-assessable Resulting Issuer Share; (vii) each issued and outstanding common share of IGC Subco will be cancelled and replaced by a common share of Amalco; and (viii) as consideration for the issuance of the IGC Shares to effect the Proposed Transaction, Amalco will issue to IGC one common share of Amalco for each IGC Share issued to the previous holders of Westleaf Shares.

Upon completion of the Proposed Transaction, the Resulting Issuer will change its name to Westleaf Inc., or such other name as the directors of the Resulting Issuer may determine.

It is estimated that there will be an aggregate of approximately 85,975,741 Resulting Issuer Shares issued and outstanding immediately following completion of the Proposed Transaction (excluding Resulting Issuer Shares issued in exchange for Westleaf Shares issued under the Private Placement (as defined below)), resulting in: (i) current holders of IGC Shares holding approximately 3,645,388 (4.24%) Resulting Issuer Shares; and (ii) current holders of Westleaf Shares holding approximately 82,330,353 (95.76%) Resulting Issuer Shares. Each Resulting Issuer Share issued to the holders of Westleaf Shares shall be issued at a deemed price of $0.54 per Resulting Issuer Share for aggregate consideration of $46,426,900.

Westleaf Private Placement

In conjunction with the Proposed Transaction, Westleaf is planning to complete a concurrent private placement financing (the Private Placement). Details on the Private Placement, including the amount of proceeds to be raised, the type and number of securities offered for issuance and the agent or agents engaged to broker the Private Placement, if any, will be provided in due course once available by way of press release. The closing of the Private Placement is conditional upon, among other things, the receipt of all necessary corporate and regulatory approvals.

Management Team, Board of Directors and Other Insiders

Upon completion of the Proposed Transaction, it is anticipated that all of the directors and officers of IGC will resign and be replaced by nominees of Westleaf. Details regarding the anticipated directors and officers of the Resulting Issuer are set forth below. Additional directors may be added to the board of directors of the Resulting Issuer in the normal course and once identified, information with respect to the proposed additional directors will be included in a subsequent news release.

Scott Hurd  Calgary, Alberta  President & Chief Executive Officer and Director

Mr. Hurd is a co-founder of Westleaf and brings significant leadership, business development, and principal investing/capital markets expertise. Prior to Westleaf, Mr. Hurd served as the Vice President of Business Development at Grafton Asset Management, a leading Canadian asset management firm where he was involved in raising, investing and managing over $1 billion of capital focused on real-asset investments in North America. Previously, Mr. Hurd worked for Macquarie Energy Capitals principal investing group where he focused on the origination and execution of investments in domestic and international structured and mezzanine debt, public and private equities, and joint venture transactions. Mr. Hurd has also worked for CIBC World Markets in the global energy investment banking group, is a CFA Charterholder and holds a Bachelor of Commerce with a major in Finance from the University of Calgary.

Stephen Mason  Calgary, Alberta  Executive Chairman and Director

Mr. Mason is a co-founder of Westleaf and brings over 38 years of success in developing domestic and international business opportunities. Mr. Mason has led the start-up of five companies with the most significant being Artumas Group Inc., which reached an enterprise value of approximately $1 billion with over 200 employees in Canada, Tanzania, and Mozambique. Mr. Mason brings extensive experience in interfacing with high-level government policy makers, First Nations communities and non-government agencies.

Robb McNaughton  Calgary, Alberta  Director

Mr. McNaughton is a partner at Border Ladner Gervais LLP in the Securities and Capital Markets Group. Mr. McNaughton is a national leader in public listings, including via capital pool companies and is a member of the TSX Venture Exchange Local Advisory Committee (Alberta). Mr. McNaughton has sat on multiple public and private boards of directors that include industrial, mining and oil and gas issuers.

Kareen Stangherlin  Calgary, Alberta  Director

Ms. Stangherlin has 20 years of senior financial and operational experience with 16 years of direct investment experience. Ms. Stangherlin has played key roles in launching and growing two successful Calgary-based investment firms from initial fund to firms with more than $1 billion in assets under management. Ms. Stangherlin is a Board Member of the Alberta Teachers Retirement Fund (ATRF) pension and Chairs the Finance and Planning Committee for ATRF. She is also a Council Member of the Canadian Advocacy Council for CFA Societies Canada. Ms. Stangherlin is a Chartered Professional Accountant, a Chartered Financial Analyst, and a Certified Financial Planner, with an undergraduate degree in Accounting from the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary. Ms. Stangherlin has earned the ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.

Chief Delbert Wapass  Turtleford, Saskatchewan  Director

Chief Delbert Wapass has been the Chief of Thunderchild First Nation for two terms and was previously an executive member with the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) for two terms. Prior roles include teaching, school administration, researching, governance negotiating, public relations, human resources and finance. Chief Wapass holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Regina, a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Saskatchewan, and a Masters degree in Educational Administration from the University of Saskatchewan.

Taylor Ethans  Calgary, Alberta  Chief Financial Officer, Head of Mergers and Acquisitions and Corporate Secretary

Mr. Ethans is a co-founder of Westleaf and brings significant capital markets and private equity investment expertise. Prior to joining Westleaf, Taylor was a Vice President for TriWest Capital Partners where he executed eleven acquisitions and divestitures in manufacturing and retail focused businesses, totaling over $1 billion in valuation. In addition, Mr. Ethans served as a Director on the boards of Landmark Cinemas and Trimlite Manufacturing. Prior to TriWest Capital Partners, Mr. Ethans worked at RBC Capital Markets where he was involved in numerous public equity and debt financings. Mr. Ethans holds a Bachelor of Commerce (honours with Distinction) with a major in Finance from the University of Manitoba.

Pat Whelan  Calgary, Alberta  Executive Vice President

Mr. Whelan is a co-founder of Westleaf and brings over 30 years of executive leadership and entrepreneurial experience. Mr. Whelan previously served as the Founder and CEO of Atlantic Directional Inc. which he sold to Ensign Energy Services in 2011. Mr. Whelan recently served on the board of a high growth cannabis retail product company and negotiated the sale of the Canadian distribution rights for the companys products to Canopy Growth Corporation in 2017.

The following persons will be employed by a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Resulting Issuer and in connection therewith will be providing services integral to the business of the Resulting Issuer:

Shon Williams  Denver, Colorado  Chief Development Officer of Westleaf International Inc.

Mr. Williams has twenty-four plus years of experience in organizational leadership, strategic planning, program management (PM), R&D, ops, and business development (BD). He previously served as Director of BD, PM & Design for MJardin, one of the worlds largest cannabis companies, where he drove multi-national/multi-state expansion and brought project and design discipline to the industry. After earning a BS in Mech/Aero Engineering from West Point, Mr. Williams served 20 years in the Air Force in roles such as space systems development, flight test, international cooperation and F-22/F-15 fighter programs including leading the largest (US$30 billion) international sale in U.S. history. Mr. Williams also deployed to Afghanistan with NATO. After retirement as a Lt Col Mr. Williams became BD Director for Calspan Aerospace. Mr. Williams has an MS in Astronautical Engineering and is a USAF Test Pilot School graduate.

Ben Kaanta  Denver, Colorado  Chief Operating Officer of Westleaf International Inc.

Mr. Kaanta was the former Director of Operations for MJardin, one of North Americas largest cannabis cultivation businesses. While there, Mr. Kaanta oversaw all aspects of day-to-day operations in over a dozen commercial cultivation facilities, the start-up of another dozen facilities, and the development of training and analytics programs. Previously, Mr. Kaanta oversaw the start-up and early stage operations of multiple particle accelerator based cancer therapy centers, managed product development for biomedical instrumentation, and performed research & development on ion thrusters for NASA. Mr. Kaanta holds a BSC in Mechanical Engineering with a Minor in Mathematics, is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), and holds two patents.

Christian Monson  Denver, Colorado  Chief Legal Officer & VP of Strategy of Westleaf International Inc.

Mr. Monson was the former General Counsel for MJardin, one of North Americas largest cannabis cultivation businesses, which operates in multiple jurisdictions. In this position, Mr. Monson oversaw all legal affairs while working closely with the executive team in the long-term development of the business, including co-leading the business with two other executives and returning record month-over-month revenue and profit gains. Mr. Monson has project managed successful merit-based cannabis license application writing efforts for clients in several states and was in charge of ensuring licensing compliance for over 70 state and local cannabis licenses.

Selected Consolidated Financial Information of Westleaf

The following selected consolidated financial information of Westleaf has been supplied to IGC by Westleaf for purposes of inclusion herein in accordance with TSXV requirements:

Six Months Ended

June 30, 2018

(C$ 000)

(Unaudited) Year Ended

December 31, 2017

(C$ 000)

(Audited) Total Assets 19,218 555 Total Long-Term Liabilities 3,802 - Current Liabilities 1,830 761 Revenues - - General and Administrative Expenses 1,249 216 Net Loss (1,373 ) (216 )

Restrictions on Securities

The Amalgamation Agreement provides that in addition to any resale restrictions applicable to the Resulting Issuer Shares pursuant to the policies of the TSXV or applicable laws, all of the Resulting Issuer Shares issued to the holders of Westleaf Shares in exchange for their Westleaf Shares will be subject to a four month restricted period from the date of the Closing, during which time the holders of such Resulting Issuer Shares shall not be permitted to trade or otherwise sell or dispose of such Resulting Issuer Shares without the express written consent of the Resulting Issuer.

Certain Principal securities (as defined in TSXV policies) will be subject to escrow, in accordance with TSXV Policy 5.4  Escrow, Vendor Consideration and Resale Restrictions.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship of the Proposed Transaction may be required by the TSXV unless an exemption or waiver from this requirement can be obtained in accordance with the policies of the TSXV. IGC intends to apply for a waiver of the sponsorship requirement. There is no assurance that a waiver from this requirement can or will be obtained.

Trading Halt

The IGC Shares are currently halted from trading and are not expected to resume trading until completion of the Proposed Transaction.

Conditions to Completion of the Proposed Transaction and Regulatory Matters

The parties to the Proposed Transaction are at arms length and therefore it is anticipated that the Proposed Transaction will not be a Non-Arms Length Transaction for the purposes of TSXV Policy 5.2  Changes of Business and Reverse Takeovers as none of the directors, officers or insiders of IGC, or any of their respective associates or affiliates, own any securities of Westleaf.

Completion of the Proposed Transaction is subject to a number of conditions including, but not limited to, completion of the Private Placement, closing conditions customary to transactions of the nature of the Proposed Transaction, approvals of all regulatory bodies having jurisdiction in connection with the Proposed Transaction, TSXV acceptance of the Proposed Transaction and, if applicable pursuant to Exchange requirements, majority of the minority shareholder approval. Where applicable, the Proposed Transaction cannot close until the required shareholder approvals are obtained and 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 or filing statement 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. Trading in the securities of IGC should be considered highly speculative.

The Exchange has in no way passed upon the merits of the Proposed Transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

Additional Information

For further information, please contact:

IGC Resources Inc.

Jacqueline M. Tucker, Interim CEO & CFO

Phone: (403) 262-3315

Westleaf Cannabis Inc.

Scott Hurd, President & CEO

Phone: (403) 870-4798

Cautionary Statements:

This news release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, forward-looking statements) within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as expects, or does not expect, is expected, anticipates or does not anticipate, plans, budget, scheduled, forecasts, estimates, believes or intends or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results may or could, would, might or will be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. In this news release, forward-looking statements relate, among other things, to: the terms and conditions of the Proposed Transaction, the pro forma capitalization of the Resulting Issuer, the Private Placement and the anticipated type and number of securities to be issued thereunder, the IGC Shareholder Meeting, the IGC Name Change, the IGC Share Consolidation, the IGC Continuance; the Westleaf shareholder meeting, the business and operations of Westleaf and the Resulting Issuer, the go-forward management of the Resulting Issuer and the trading of the Resulting Issuer Shares and the development of Westleafs facilities. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; and the delay or failure to receive board, shareholder, court or regulatory approvals. There can be no assurance that such statements 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 the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. Except as required by law, IGC and Westleaf assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except as required by law.

This press release is not an offer of the securities for sale in the United States. The securities 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 exemption from registration. 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 state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange, Inc. nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the polices of the TSX Venture Exchange) has in any way passed upon the merits of the Proposed Transaction and associated transactions and neither of the foregoing entities has in any way approved or disapproved of the contents of this press release.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
Estimados amigos,

Les doy cordialmente la bienvenida a este Blog informativo con articulos, analisis y comentarios de publicaciones especializadas y especialmente seleccionadas, principalmente sobre temas economicos, financieros y politicos de actualidad, que esperamos y deseamos, sean de su maximo interes, utilidad y conveniencia.

Pensamos que solo comprendiendo cabalmente el presente, es que podemos proyectarnos acertadamente hacia el futuro.

Gonzalo Raffo de Lavalle

Las convicciones son mas peligrosos enemigos de la verdad que las mentiras.

Quien no lo ha dado todo no ha dado nada.

Helenio Herrera

History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.

Karl Marx

If you know the other and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

Sun Tzu









We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.



Paulo Coelho
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:I want to campaign to turn a really horrible, big gray wall in my neighborhood into a mural. How can I get that process started?

A:Well, youve already cleared the first hurdle: You have a wall! The others are a little more difficult but doable. You need permission from the walls owner. You need funding. You need an artist. You need community input and probably some volunteers to help. Ill tell you what Ive learned about these steps. But first I want to say how much I love this question.

Advocating for a mural is not just about beautifying a space, its also about the collaborative process you must go through with neighbors to make public art like this happen.

For insight into kickstarting the process, I turned to Groundswell, a non-profit that has created approximately 600 mural projects over its 22 years in New York City. The organization operates with a social justice mission and brings artists and young people together to see a project to fruition.

Groundswell told me they get calls almost every day from curious New Yorkers looking to start their own projects.

Eric Miles, the organizations Director of Programs, said there are several questions to keep in mind once you set your sights on a blank wall.

Who is going to see this mural? Who wants to have input into the theme and the messages and the symbolism in this mural? he said. And it's important for either individuals or community partners to think about this from the very outset of the project.



A detail of a Groundswell mural in Brownsville, Brooklyn. (Clarissa Sosin)

Then embark on these steps:

First, if you have a specific wall in mind, you must identify its owner and secure permissions. The wall may be privately owned or fall under the authority of a city or state agency. And, naturally, every government agency  be it the Department of Transportation or Department of Education or NYCHA  has its own process for authorizing murals.

I found guidelines for the New York City Parks Department online, along with guidelines for the Department of Transportation. (The Department of Transportation also takes proposals for barrier beautification, by the way.)

Miles noted that each agency may have different stipulations for the murals lifespan  usually stipulated by a contract. Dont gloss over that part. The process is rewarding but lengthy, and you want the mural to exist for as long as possible.



Next, think about funding. Money could come from a variety of sources such as non-profit groups, grants, participatory budgeting, your local City Councilperson, PTAs, corporations or elsewhere. Because fundraising is usually a lengthy process, Miles suggested thinking about projects a year out.

Groundswell helps with some of the legwork of securing permissions and raising funds, such as co-writing grants with community groups.

It helps to connect with any long-standing organization that has relationships with funders and city agencies at the beginning of a mural project. In addition to Groundswell, New York Cares and Creative Art Works are also groups doing these projects. (Please add any other you know in the comments below.) Thats not to say that individual street artists or a group of neighbors cannot succeed on their own, because they can  and do.

The next step is to begin the community design process. This takes community organizing, meetings and listening  the local Community Board leaders can help you with this. Remember, youre not the only one wholl be looking at and living with this mural. There may be tense conversations around who wants what or issues like gentrification. But mainly, Miles said, people just have a lot to say.

I feel like so many of our community engagement sessions are opportunities for people to tell their stories, he said, and added, Sometimes those conversations only come out when there is a sounding board or something to talk about.

Karen Jolicoeur, deputy director at Creative Art Works, also plugged community boards as a resource.

They are a great vehicle for generating community consensus about any kind of a community initiative, she said.

So think of your mural not just as public art, but as community convener. Artists usually help during community meetings by pulling out ideas and themes, so bring them with you if you can.



A mural in the Bronx completed through the New York City Mural Arts Project, which centers on reducing stigma around mental health issues. (Will Ragozzino for the NYC Mural Arts Project)

Another city project to keep in mind is the New York City Mural Arts Project. Now in its third year, the project works with community mental health organizations focused on destigmatizing mental illness to produce three murals each fiscal year. They take pitches for ideas, and anyone can participate in design events or community paint days.

Finally, who will do the painting? Generally speaking, you need a crew. And if the process was a community-driven one, recruiting volunteers should be the easy part. If there is scaffolding involved, you need people trained for that, Miles said.

Groundswell focuses on building up young artists through youth-led projects. They also have days where all members of the community are invited to paint.

Creative Art Works also employs youth to install public art projects. Its part of their mission. And according to Jolicoeur, that youth-focused approach helps generate support.

When the community sees young people joining together to create something of great beauty, there is a really synergistic transformation as part of the artmaking process, Jolicoeur said. And then you tend to have a lot of goodwill about the final product.



Creative Art Works collaborated with other community organizations, including the Girl Scouts and the local community board, to install this mural in Inwood. (John Scott Lucas for Creative Art Works)

She noted that the steps needed to bring a project to fruition dont always happen in a straight line. The project may not be fully funded before a design process begins. Or getting permission to use a specific wall may be tricky at times, especially if jurisdiction over a space involves both city and state agencies. (It happens!)

I wish I could tell you that it always goes smoothly from Point A to Point B to Point C, Jolicoeur said.

But the point, she added, is to navigate and persevere.



Here's more on this from WNYC:

Loading...
The Department of Justice appears to be abandoning its effort to deport Pablo Villavicencio, the pizza deliveryman detained by ICE while dropping off a catering order at the Fort Hamilton army base in Brooklyn this summer. The abrupt reversal comes just three days after the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office moved to appeal a court ruling that permitted Villavicencio to remain with his wife and two daughters while he continued his application for permanent residency.

Villavicencio, a ten-year resident of the United States with no criminal record, became a cause celebre for immigration advocates following his arrest in June. After two months in detention, he was freed by U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty, who called the attempted deportation "thoughtless and cruel." On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman initiated the process of appealing that decision, raising alarms that the Justice Department might still succeed in separating Villavicencio from his family.

But according to the Legal Aid Society, that request was rescinded by federal prosecutors on Friday. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office did not respond to a request for comment.

"We are glad that today the Federal Government fully withdrew their challenge to Mr. Villavicencios hard-won release from immigration detention and his opportunity to pursue lawful status," Adriene Holder, the attorney-in-charge of Legal Aid's Civil Practice, said in a statement. She added that the Legal Aid Society, along with the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, would continue to represent Villavicencio as he worked to secure his status.

Governor Andrew Cuomo also praised the about-face, noting in a statement that "there was absolutely no legitimate reason to lock Mr. Villavicencio up and take him away from his family." Following the arrest, Cuomo publicly promised to provide free legal help to Villavicencio. But the governor ultimately did not cover the cost of the legal fees, according to a person familiar with the details of that arrangement. (A spokesperson for Cuomo notes that the governor's office "connected [Villavicencio] and his family with a variety of legal options," and that people "decide what they want to pursue based on their circumstances.")

City Councilmember Justin Brannan, who led rallies calling for Villavicencio's freedom along with other local politicians, celebrated the news as well.

I am relieved that U.S. Attorney Berman reversed coursed so quickly and will now continue to abide by the federal judges ruling. Pablo Villavicencios wife and two daughters are all American citizens and tearing their family part serves no purpose and is downright un-American," he said. "No matter where you come from or how long you have been here, we are all New Yorkers. I credit every activist who stood their ground and Legal Aid for their tireless work throughout this entire process.


A woman was shoved to the ground and sexually assaulted on a Brooklyn sidewalk, according to police, who are hoping the public can help them find the suspect. One Williamsburg resident told WCBS 2, "First of all I thought it was a car chase or something, because I saw all of the tape. But then they told me it was that assault. You know its kind of scary, but Ive never really been afraid in this area."

The incident occurred around 2:15 a.m. on Thursday, October 4th, near Richard Street and Kingsland Avenue in East Williamsburg. The NYPD says that the 27-year-old victim, who had just left a bar on Richardson Street, was approached from behind by a man who "shoved her against a wall, removed her underwear and tried to sexually assault her."

The victim resisted, but police say the man knocked her to the ground and touched her genitals. He then fled east on Richardson Street in a dark colored four-door sedan, according to police, who released security camera footage of the suspect, described as wearing dark-colored clothing and work boots.

Warning: The footage also shows the suspect grabbing the victim and pushing her around as she resists.

The victim was treated by a nearby hospital after she reportedly walked a mile and a half to report the assault to the police.

WABC 7 spoke to residents who said "this is typically a quiet, safe neighborhood but pedestrian traffic has picked up in recent months because of a new nearby music venue, Brooklyn Steel."

Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM, on Twitter @NYPDTips or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential.


[UPDATE BELOW] The Senate voted on Friday to advance Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh to a final confirmation vote this weekend, bringing a credibly accused predator and partisan conspiracist one step closer to a lifetime appointment that he very much believes he deserves.

The cloture vote, which passed 51-49, will limit debate on the nominee for 30 hours, setting up a final vote for Saturday. Surprising many, Lisa Murkowski, the GOP senator from Alaska who has been meeting with assault survivors in recent days, voted no on the procedural motion. But Republican Senators Susan Collins and Jeff Flake voted yes, along with Democratic Senator Joe Manchin. Unless two of those three yes votes switch their positions before the final vote tomorrow, Kavanaugh's confirmation is secure.

Still, there's plenty of uncertainty about what will actually go down tomorrow, or even later today. At 3 p.m. on Friday, Collins, who represents Maine and is up for election in 2020, will announce how she intends to vote on Saturdayvery possibly the deciding factor one way or the other. Senator Joe Manchina Democrat from West Virginia who earlier this week looked on as anti-Kavanaugh protesters occupied in his office to beg him to vote no, and were subsequently arrestedsays he's still undecided, and may very likely side with whichever side appears to be coming out ahead. Jeff Flake, being Jeff Flake, has now said he will vote yes. So it appears that Susan Collins will decide how this goes.

BREAKING: Following dramatic cmte. move that led to FBI review, Sen. Flake says he plans to vote in favor of Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation to the US Supreme Court.  NBC News (@NBCNews) October 5, 2018

Murkowskis no leaves Collins and Flake, individually or together to decide Kavanaughs fate.



i dont believe Manchin will cast tie-breaking vote  John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) October 5, 2018

Murkowski calls this the most difficult evaluation shes had to make. Hes not the right man for the court at this time, she said. So I have taken my vote here this morning. Im going to go back to my office and write a floor statement that is more fulsome.

-@jeremyherb  Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) October 5, 2018

Joe Manchin is going to be the 50th vote for confirmation, lose reelection, and become rich lobbying for the coal industry. You heard it here first!  the democrats learned nothing from 2016  (@isamuel) October 5, 2018

For their part, Democrats have spent much of the last 24 hours criticizing the FBI's handling of their investigation into Kavanaugh, arguing that the probe was too limited in scope, possibly at the direction of the White House. "From start to finish, President Trumps nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court will go down as one of the saddest, most sordid chapters in the long history of the federal judiciary," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in remarks made ahead of Friday's cloture vote.

"Faced with credible allegations of various types of misconduct, Judge Kavanaughs credibility was again tested, and he continued to dissemble and even prevaricate about easily-refuted facts," he continued. "Beyond the issue of credibility, Judge Kavanaugh presented to the Senate the bitterest partisan testimony I have ever heard from a candidate seeking the Senates approval."

Citing Kavanaugh's "temperament" during last week's hearing, the American Bar Association also announced on Friday that they would be re-opening an evaluation of Kavanaugh, after previously deeming him qualified to serve on the court.

And perhaps more important than condemnation from minority leaders or attorney associations, the anger of the American public continues to boil over. Thousands of protesters have poured into Capitol Hill in recent days, while those in New York have taken to the streets outside Trump Tower. Expect more demonstrations today and Saturdayand probably for a good while after that, too. We'll update with local protest info as that becomes available.

Kavanaugh protesters on their way to Trump Tower. Ive seen a lot of protests in New York since Trump got elected. The anger feels very different today pic.twitter.com/MOQsOoH2pA  Mara Gay (@MaraGay) October 4, 2018

UPDATE: Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine, the likely swing vote in Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation, indicated in a nearly hour-long speech on Friday that she will vote in favor of the controversial nominee. After emphasizing that she believed aspects of Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's story, and that she is wholly supportive of the #MeToo movement, Collins added, "I do not believe that these charges can fairly prevent Judge Kavanaugh from serving on the court." Her support for the nominee, combined with Flake's announcement that he'll be voting yes, would seem to give Kavanaugh enough votes for a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.

Here are some tweets.

it should be illegal to speak this slowly  Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) October 5, 2018

sexual assault goes unreported because of, like, speeches like this, susan.  Addy Baird  (@addysue) October 5, 2018

Susan Collins is taking longer with this speech than the FBI spent investigating Kavanaugh  Olivia Becker (@oliviaLbecker) October 5, 2018
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: the New York State DREAM Act.

After President Donald Trump announced his intention to end the Obama-era Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), which provided legal status to some 700,000 undocumented immigrants who had been brought to the country as children, some New York lawmakers expressed an elevated sense of urgency to fill the void.

New York is the antithesis of what this president believes about immigration, Governor Andrew Cuomo declared in a press conference announcing an executive order requiring ICE to have a warrant to make an arrest in a state-owned facility (a measure that some said didnt go far enough because it didnt extend to courthouses where ICE has been staking out and arresting undocumented people).

Though both Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio see themselves as leaders of the Democratic resistance to Donald Trump, with immigration policy a key part of their rallying cry, there is only so much legislation they can actually pass with a Republican majority in the State Senate.

This year Cuomo tried and failed to pass The New York state DREAM Act, a key piece of legislation that would offer undocumented students scholarships to attend college. Here's what you need to know.

What is The NYS DREAM Act?

Its not about residency or status. Its about money for college.

Not to be confused with the federal version of The DREAM Act, which would create a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants who entered the country illegally as children, the state bill would allow undocumented immigrants to access the same in-state scholarships and financial aid available to U.S. citizens. The bill would cost $27 million. The last state budget was $168 billion.

Could it pass if Democrats take control of the State Senate in November?

The legislation was first introduced in 2013 by Senator Jose Peralta and then-Assemblyman Francisco Moya as the sponsors in each chamber. It passed the Assembly, and was defeated in the State Senate in 2014 with two no votes from the DemocratsTed OBrien (who is no longer in the Senate) and Simcha Felder (who is).

Unlike other progressive bills, however, this bill garnered support from the IDCa group of eight renegade Democrats that often caucused with the Republicansbecause its sponsor, Peralta, was an IDC member. Now that Peralta (along with most other former IDC members) has been voted out in the primary, the bill will need a new sponsor. It wont be hard, Felipe De La Hoz, reporter for Documented, said on The Brian Lehrer Show Friday. Jessica Ramos [who defeated Peralta] said she supports the bill.

What could be hard is getting the Democrats who say they support the bill to push for it when the time comes. The DREAM Act is often perceived as being something that Democrats want to pass, but not something that Democrats want to spend a lot of political capital time on, said De La Hoz It could go to the end of legislative the line again.

The Case For:

According to the New York Assembly, Estimates show that of the roughly 4,500 undocumented students who graduate from New York High Schools every year, only 5-10 percent are able to pursue a college education because of financial burden. The NYS DREAM Act would make New York the fifth state in the country to make college more affordable to undocumented students by allowing them to receive state financial aid. It would also create a private scholarship fund for the children of immigrants, and allow undocumented students and their families to open college savings accounts.

Its a chance, said De La Hoz, for people who already pay taxes to get the same types of educational opportunities as citizens.

The Case Against:

State Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, a Republican who represents the 2nd District in Suffolk County, has made his partys stance very clear. Our members are very strongly opposed to the DREAM Act, Flanagan said last year, arguing that his primary obligation is "to make sure were taking care of the hard-working middle class taxpayers who are struggling right now."

In a campaign ad, Republican Dean Murray, who is running in Long Island in the 3rd Senate district against Monica Martinez, condemned the Act for allegedly taking scholarships away from children of tax-paying families, and promised, I will not reward illegal activity at the expense of our legal, law-abiding citizens.

De La Hoz, however, says the idea that immigrants dont pay taxes is not true: Undocumented people pay taxesthey pay federal income taxes and state taxes through purchases. Its not like this money is being paid by citizens and then going back to undocumented people. Technically theyre paying for it as well."

For more on the NY State Dream Act, listen to Brian Lehrer's segment on the issue here:

Loading...
Thank you for reading!

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.
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.
Facebook makes American society better

Facebook makes American society worse

Worse because of the way some people use Facebook

Worse because of the way Facebook itself is run

Facebook has no effect on American society

No opinion

Vote

View Results
Videos

Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos.
We say thank you to those making a difference in and around New Braunfels
Armenian law enforcement officials say that on September 30 they confiscated 3.5 grams of a cocaine-like substance from a suitcase belonging to a Guatemala citizen who had just touched down in Yerevans Zvartnots Airport from Dubai.

According to a statement released by State Revenue Committee, the woman started her journey from San Paolo, in Brazil, where she obtained the drugs.

The woman was supposed to hand over the drugs to a person she was to meet at a Yerevan hotel.

On October 3, Yerevan police arrested a citizen of Kazakhstan who had arrived in Yerevan on a flight from Turkey.

Police say she was preparing to meet with the Guatemalan, take possession of the drugs, and take them back to Turkey.
Last June, Washington, D.C. residents voted to pass Initiative 77, a ballot measure that raised the minimum wage for all restaurant workers, including those making tips. Driven by Restaurant Opportunities Centers United (ROC United), the policy was meant to ensure that that no one has to experience the financial insecuritythat comes with being forced to live off tips.

Yet many of the very workers who the law sought to rescue or protect didnt want it in the first place, and fought vociferously to have it repealed. Last Tuesday, after significant pushback, their wishes were granted.

On an 8-to-5 vote  the first of two necessary votes  the D.C. Council approved legislation repealing Initiative 77, writes Fenit Nirappil in the Washington Post. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) said she would sign the repeal legislation. (All but one of the eight councilmembers are Democrats; the other is independent.)

Unlike many minimum wage proposals  which typically draw resistance from business owners due to fears of business closure  Initiative 77 offers an interesting case where the workers joined the fight. Worried about declines in tipping and cuts in staff, restaurant servers, in particular, saw through the claims of economic justice and noted the immediate damage it would cause themselves, as well as the long-term risks to the business and their fellow employees.

As Eric Boehm summarizes at Reason:

Though it was served up as a progressive plan to hike wages, Initiative 77 would have actually cost many workers money. The proposal abolished the so-called tipped minimum wage of $3.50 cents per hour, replacing it with a $15 minimum wage for all food service workers in the city. But workers that I (and other reporters) talked to before the vote told me that they often make far more than $15 a hour, thanks to tips. Even if they dont, D.C. law required restaurant workers to make at least $12.50 an hour, with employers mandated to top-up employees pay if they earn less than that much in tips. Given the choice, many workers said theyd rather not earn $15 per hour at the cost of losing their tips. More than 8,000 of them sent comments to the city council urging them to repeal the measure. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, a Democrat, has indicated she would sign the repeal.

Other workers, servers, and bartenders tell their stories here.

Despite the good intentions of the laws backers, the workers themselves didnt need saving, and were close enough to the customers and economic signals to understand that prices are not play things. Now, thanks to their efforts, the Districts restaurant industry can continue growing as industries typically do: not through artificial scheming, but through trial and error and risk-taking based on authentic price information tied to authentic, personal decisions and determinations about value.

Weve had this growth in terms of restaurants opening [in the District], neighborhoods growing and employment rising in our communities. That will be able to continue, says Kathy Hollinger, who heads the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington. Workers will be able to continue earning the income that they were or have the ability to earn in an industry that provides upward mobility.

Despite whatever qualms we may have with the fairness of this or that employers particular wage fixings, or even with the market wage, to bluntly subvert and manipulate these signals is likely to lead to even more disadvantage and hardship overall. Market signals may not serve as holistic or wholly accurate determiners of human value and worth, but as it pertains to wealth creation in the economic order, they serve a central purpose in guiding our activity toward actual human needs.

With ROC United already achieving similar One Fair Wage laws in seven other states  including California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Nevada, Montana, and Minnesota  there are plenty of victims and casualties and there is much more work to be done. But the example of D.C.s restaurant-worker resistance shows us that economic laws can only be ignored and subverted so far, and that its possible for both business owners to collaborate with their employees in the fight for true economic justice.

Image: Washington, D.C. Adams Morgan Neighborhood, 12019, CC0
In a recent article for The American Spectator, Rev. Ben Johnson, senior editor at the Acton Institute, addresses some of the problems that arise for the Church as a result of Amazons recent wage raises.

According to Johnson, Amazon recently announced that it is raising the wage of its lowest-paid U.S. workers to $15 an hour, and above the proposed real living wage in the UK. This comes in addition to Amazons CEO Jeff Bezos plans to lobby Congress to raise the minimum wage.

These events follow a disparaging speech made about the company by Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, to the Trades Union Congress, which Johnson describes as a vicious vicious jeremiad that compared Amazon to cannibals and leeches, called zero-hour contracts an ancient evil, and hailed Christian socialism. When it was revealed that the Church of England invests heavily in Amazon and has churches that offer zero-hour contracts  on the advice of Church of England administrators, Welbys blatant hypocrisy could not be more obvious.

Johnson points to the most significant problems in Welbys speech, which derive from his plea for the churchs perpetual irrelevance. Welby declared, Today I dream that governments, now and in the future, put church-run food banks out of business, a comment Johnson reads as an entreaty to outsource acts of Christian philanthropy to the government.

Welby, Johnson notes, is not the first Anglican bishop to want social welfare to displace the church, which reveals a dangerous tendency towards governments infringement on the Church both in the past and today.

Johnson effectively summarizes the connection between Amazons wage raises and Welbys speech at the end of his piece:

Worse yet is the message the archbishops sermon and Amazons announcement send to young priests. The Anglican Communion News Service noted the correlation of Welbys speech and Bezos action, implying some level of causation.  [T]his tells beleaguered priests and ambitious prelates that bashing corporations is the way to impact the broader culture, that political posturing leads to renewed relevance, and that demanding government programs replace church ministries pays off in the short-term. And thus is born a generation of budding, statist Savonarolas.

This particular case presents serious implications for the Church of England, government, and business, affecting not only the Churchs ministry but also wider conversations about the separation of church and state.

Read the full article here.
* "Most Popular Intellectual Property Law Blawg" of all time according to Justia rankings , November 2021.

* "Most Popular Copyright Blawg" of all time according to Justia rankings , November 2021.

* PermaKat Eleonora Rosati listed as one of the World Intellectual Property Review's "Influential Women in IP" of 2020.

* PermaKat Eleonora Rosati listed as one of the Managing Intellectual Property magazine's "Fifty Most Influential People" of 2018.

* IPKat founder and Blogmeister Emeritus Jeremy Phillips listed as one of the Managing Intellectual Property magazine's "Fifty Most Influential People" of 2005, 2011, 2013, and 2014.

* Recommended by the European Patent Office as reading material for candidates for the European Qualifying Examinations, 2013.

* Listed as "Top Legal Blog" in The Times Online, March 2011.

2010 ABA Journal 100. * One of the only two non-US blogs listed in the Blawg100.

* Court Reporter Top Copyright Blog award winner, November 2010.

* Number 1 in the 2010 Top Copyright Blog list compiled by the Copyright Litigation Blog, July 2010.

* Selected by the United States Library of Congress for inclusion in its historic collections of Internet materials related to Legal Blawgs as of 2010.

* Top Patent Blog poll 2009: 3rd out of 50 in the "Favourite Patent Blog" poll and 2nd out of 50 in the "Most-read" poll.

Blog of the Year, 20 August 2008. * ComputerWeekly IT Law and Governance, 20 August 2008.
By Bill McKibbon on 2 October 2018 for the Guardian -

"Trump administration sees a 7-degree rise in global temperatures by 2100". From ( Image above: Trees silhouetted by flames in recent out of control wild fire in California seen in Washington Post article dated 9/28/18 titled. From ( https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-administration-sees-a-7-degree-rise-in-global-temperatures-by-2100/2018/09/27/b9c6fada-bb45-11e8-bdc0-90f81cc58c5d_story.html ).

.

SUBHEAD: His administration expects the planet is going to experience temperature rise of 7F and doesn't care.In the cloud of toxic dust thrown up by the Kavanaugh hearings last week, two new Trump initiatives slipped by with less notice than they deserve. Both are ugly, stupid  and they are linked, though in ways not immediately apparent.In the first, the administration provided the rationale for scrapping President Obamas automobile mileage standards: because Trumps crew now officially expects the planet to warm by 4C . In the environmental impact statement they say it wouldnt make much difference to the destruction of the planet if we all keep driving SUVs.The news in that statement is that administration officials serenely contemplate that 4C rise (twice the last-ditch target set at the Paris climate talks). Were the world to actually warm that much, it would be a literal hell, unable to maintain civilizations as we have known them.But thats now our policy, and it apparently rules out any of the actions that might, in fact, limit that warming. You might as well argue that because youre going to die eventually, theres no reason not to smoke a carton of cigarettes a day.Meanwhile, reporters also discovered that the administration has set up what can only be described as a concentration camp near the Mexican border for detained migrant children, spiriting them under cover of darkness from the foster homes and small shelters across the nation where they had been staying.Not an extermination camp  these arent Nazis  but a camp that literally concentrates this problem in one place: a tent city in the middle of the desert. Schooling is not available there, as it was in the shelters they came from; instead the kids are given workbooks that they have no obligation to complete. Access to legal services is limited.That camp is linked to climate change because, first, its in a desert. If you searched high and low across the North American continent, you could barely find a place hotter and drier than Tornillo, Texas, where in June the average high is 96F and where, as one climate data source succinctly puts it, there is virtually no rainfall during the year.But the link goes much deeper. Most of those migrants are from Central America and Mexico , and they might as easily be described as refugees fleeing gang violence (much of it rooted originally in the US) and a changing climate. Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras first saw an outbreak of coffee rust linked to higher nighttime temperatures; the El Nino that began in 2015 led to years of unprecedented drought.Deep new droughts this summer wiped out more harvests: total or partial loss of crops means that subsistence farmers and their families will not have enough food to eat or sell in coming months, the UNs Food and Agriculture Organization warned.The author Todd Miller, writing in the Nation, described meeting men trying to jump a train in Guatemala headed north toward the border. When I asked why they were heading for the United States, one responded simply, No hubo lluvia. (There was no rain.)This will, of course, get steadily worse in the years ahead  every climate forecast shows deserts spreading and water evaporating across the region. And of course more migration will follow, in every corner of the world.The World Bank predicts we may see 140 million climate migrants before long, and given the chaos that even a million people fleeing the (partially drought-fueled) crisis in Syria created, we better come to grips.Some of that migration will be internal  perhaps six million people will abandon their coastal property in Florida alone, according to recent reports . And much of it will be international, as people flee because their lives depend on it.And telling people to stay home is not a moral option, either. Because the climate chaos setting off waves of refugees is born above all from the unconstrained migration of carbon dioxide molecules from America over the last century.No wall can prevent the exhaust from our armada of oversized cars from raising the temperature in Mexico; if Guatemala could ship its changed climate back north it doubtless would, but it cant.We have to realize that global warming stems from the fact that we are a world without atmospheric borders, where the people who have done the least to cause the problem feel its horrors first and hardest.Thats why, over the last half-decade, the environmental and migrant-rights movement have grown ever closer The Trump years are a fantasy land where we pretend we can go on living precisely as in the past, unwilling even to substitute electric SUVs for our gas guzzlers, and able to somehow insist that the rest of the world stay locked in place as well.Its impractical, its unfair, and when it ends up with camps for kids in the desert its downright evil.
An upcoming program seeks to educate and inspire Houstonians about Israels global humanitarian work.Israel at 70: Reaching Out to the World will take place Sunday, Oct. 21, at Beth Israel synagogue, 5600 N. Braeswood Blvd.Registration opens at noon, followed by the start of the program at 12:30 p.m. Ten different Israeli organizations will offer presentations until 4:45 p.m., after which the program will conclude with an hour-long reception, featuring Israeli food, music and opportunities to meet with representatives from each organization.Israel is providing the world with so many wonderful innovations and life-saving measures that should make us very proud as American Jews, said Terry Gardner, who came up with the idea of the event and organized its program with Beth Israels Israel Advocacy Committee.I want people who attend the event to be inspired and informed about how wonderful Israel is, Gardner told the JHV.Garner said he wanted to create a program that avoids divisive political and religious issues and, instead, highlights Israels humanitarian work. Presentations will focus on Israeli organizations working in the fields of medicine, agriculture, sustainable development, emergency response and disaster recovery.Participating organizations include: Dream Doctors, Ezer Mizion, Friends of the IDF, IsraAID, Joint Distribution Committee, MASHAV, Natal, United Hatzalah, Volcani and ZAKA.Gardner came up with the idea of organizing such an event in Houston after attending a similar one in Dallas. Initially, he sought to partner with the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston to host the event, but then Hurricane Harvey happened and the Federation had to focus its efforts on Harvey recovery.Gardner then reached out to Beth Israel, whose executive director, David Scott, championed the idea.Were very excited about promoting Israel and Israel causes, Scott told the JHV. What was compelling about this idea was that its really something that everyone can get behind and enjoy.Its an educational program that everyone is going to walk away with having learned something of value that Israel provides to the world, he said.Scott and Gardner both lamented the fact that all too often, when Israel is discussed in the news and on social media, the focus is on conflict. While conflict is part of Israels story, Scott and Gardner acknowledged, its not the entire story, and the public should have a broader view of Israel.Its a source of frustration that theres often so much focus, even to the point of distraction, on what some people consider the negative aspects of Israel, Gardner said. Thats really sad, because there are so many wonderful things about Israel.We need to get past those distractions and see those wonderful things, because they are very important to our lives, he said.Organizers said the program was conceived with a broad and diverse audience in mind. Rather than require participants to choose certain breakout sessions at the expense of having to miss out on others, organizers devised a round robin format, where participants will have the opportunity to hear all 10 presentations.The goal is to expose people to one or several organizations that they didnt know about before and the incredible work that Israelis are doing to take care of people around the world, Scott said. People who attend the event also will have the opportunity to meet with those who work for these organizations and learn directly from them about the work they do.Gardner added, The Torah teaches us that youre supposed to reach out to your neighbor and help him when he needs it.Israel fully embodies that dictate, he said.Israel at 70: Reaching Out to the World is underwritten by The Joan and Stanford Alexander Family Israel Programming Fund, Martha Barvin, Terry and Shifra Gardner, Rob and Liz Shoss and Melvin and Frieda Dow.Registration for the program is requested. Visit israelat70-bethisrael.eventbrite.com . For more information about the event, email Dani Gardner at [email protected] or call 713-771-6221, ext. 630.
3 arrested for possession of golden-lettered book

Three persons have been arrested in possession of a Tibetan book with golden letters in Dolaha district.
At ministers call, House panel changes decision

House committees are mini-parliaments meant to put checks on the executive. Their importance increases when Parliament is in recess. In parliamentary practice, the executive follows the directives of the committees.
Amish Raj Mulmi is a columnist for the Post, and the author of All Roads Lead North: Nepals Turn to China.
Civil servants not cooperating: MPs

Lawmakers from Parliamentary State Affairs and Good Governance Committee have accused civil servants of not co-operating with the provincial government to implement federalism.
Dont be cruel

The authorities need to understand that the use of torture is inhumane and illegal
MOSS POINT, Miss. -- Police in Moss Point are searching for a vehicle that struck and killed a pedestrian, according to Chief Brandon Ashley.

The victim has been identified as 58-year-old Betty Lewis-Vaughans of Moss Point.

Police received a call from a family member of Vaughans just after 7 a.m. Thursday morning after they discovered her body outside between her residence and a business located at 3101 Bellview Street.

Investigators have been unable to locate the victim's 2003 Beige Cadillac Escalade which was found to be missing from the home. The last known tag number to be displayed on her vehicle is a Mississippi personalized tag, "UGOBJ."

Police are asking anyone with information to call the Detective Kimberlee Snowden or the Moss Point Police Department at 228-475-1711.

You may also contact Crime Stoppers at 800-787-5898 or visit the Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers website at mscoastcrimestoppers.com.
Fugitive former chief of Kist Bank nabbed

Police have arrested former Managing Director of Kist Bank, Kamal Gyawali, after three years on the run. Patan High Court in 2015 had convicted Gyawali of banking fraud and embezzlement charges.
Government told to cap sugar price at Rs63/kg

The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Thursday directed the government to cap the price of sugar at Rs63 per kg in the wake of a price controversy.
Government will work full five years, says PM Oli

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has claimed that his government will successfully lead the country for a full five-year term.
Graft scandal grips Aurahi municipal office

Office works at Aurahi Municipality in Mahottari have been halted for the past three days after the locals padlocked the municipal office over a corruption scandal.
Market demand for Nepali noodles spikes

Domestic noodle companies are strengthening their presence both domestically and globally as demand for instant noodles continues to surge.
Media sector urged to highlight economic issues

Lawmakers and entrepreneurs underlined the need to focus on economic and development related agendas to ensure prosperity at the grass-roots level. They expressed their views during an interaction organised by the Kantipur Media Group on Thursday.
Metropolis teams to inspect goats at five centres in city

As residents prepare to celebrate Dashain festivities, Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) said its officials will inspect animals at five goat-trading areas in the metropolis to ensure health safety.
Nepal gets $180m ADB loan to improve East-West highway

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a loan of $180 million to support improvements to Nepals East-West Highway, the countrys main domestic and international trade route also known as the Mahendra Highway.
Rival Congress camps join forces to rein in Deubas power ambition

Two rival factions of Nepali Congress, one led by Ram Chandra Poudel and the other by Krishna Prasad Sitaula, have decided to stand together to counter a provision in the partys draft statute that proposes granting more power to the party president.
(ISC)s two-day UK Secure Summit brings multi-subject sessions from hands-on practical workshops to keynotes and panel discussions, featuring local and international industry experts to maximise the learning experience and CPE opportunities.

Serving the entire (ISC) EMEA professional community, the Summit offers a wealth of educational value, networking opportunities, and a community forum for likeminded professionals, all of which are FREE to (ISC) members & (ISC) Chapter members. Read on for insights from one of our popular Secure Summit UK sessions:

(ISC) 2018 Secure Summit UK saw Joseph Carson, CSS at Thycotic, reveal the fascinating story behind Estonias journey towards becoming the worlds most advanced digital society, and the cyber security lessons we can learn from the Bible and blockchain.

The story began with an interesting insight into how the thinking behind blockchain, like most digital concepts, began in the physical realm. The gospels of the New Testament were preserved in more manuscripts than any other work of ancient literature, making them incredibly accurate and difficult to tamper with. He explained that this was, in a sense, an early example of the power of blockchain to preserve historical data against manipulation through decentralisation and mass distribution. He then outlined how blockchain as a computer science technique grew out of the Merkle tree, a series of digital leaves composed of data blocks growing exponentially in chronological order. This later became the concept behind not only cryptocurrency trading but also Estonias post-Soviet preservation of its national memory.

Mr Carson explained how the story of blockchain as a national system of historical data preservation began when Estonia gained independence in 1991. The new democratically elected government needed to meet the twin challenges of providing efficient public services to a small and diverse population, despite having few accurate national archives since so many legal documents had been altered by the Soviet regime. Even the land ownership documents and other legal documents had been tampered with, as the Soviet authorities had effectively written over their national memory. They saw how an occupying power could effectively erase a countrys history and identity by altering everything from its marriage records to its history books and vowed never to let it happen again.

In 1998, Estonia adopted blockchain as a system to decentralise and preserve everything from their tax to marriage records so that their history could never again be re-written. They also made digital signatures legally recognisable like paper signatures. Digital identification combined with decentralisation, helped preserve everything from voting records to tax returns against malicious tampering or the threat of natural disasters wiping out data. It also ensured Estonian citizens could easily access vital services from a smartphone from anywhere in the world, and that everything from votes to tax returns were tamper-proof, safeguarding democracy.

Estonia then went even further and created overseas data embassies across Europe so that their national memory could not be compromised even if Estonia was invaded and its datacentres destroyed. The result is that the country has a digital national identity which allows swift, seamless and secure access to services for its citizens.

This has powerful lessons for the West. It demonstrates how digitisation can provide personalised, high-speed services enabling the state to become an effective and efficient service-provider for citizens. Crucially, it shows how the concept of blockchain can help to preserve our national memory and the integrity of the information on which vital decisions and democracies depend.
Solar water project benefits 30 families in Baddi Jyawan

Drinking water project, using solar power lifting system, has benefited 30 families from Dhami and Bohara clans living in Baddi Jyawan in Bajhang district.
Student wings demand IGP Khanals dismissal

Student wings of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) on Thursday vociferously demanded the dismissal of Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sarbendra Khanal over Nepal Polices lackadaisical approach and failure to arrest the culprits involved in Nirmala Pants rape and murder.
Tiger found dead in Bardiya park

A tiger was found dead in a forest area near Karnali River in Bardiya National Park (BNP) on Wednesday.According to Badri Binod Dahal, the parks assistant conservation officer, the decomposed carcass of an adult tiger was recovered in the forest about 90 metres south from Chisapani Check Post. The dead tiger was discovered by a Nepal Army patrol team.
Women rally in Mahendranagar

Brandishing kitchen utensils, women in Mahendranagar, Kanchanpur, took out a rally in the town on Thursday, demanding that the government release the investigation report on July 26 rape and murder of 13-year-old Nirmala Pant and bring the perpetrators to justice.
1. Yes. Council members appear to have taken time to review each section carefully.

2. Yes. The council has set up town halls and a public hearing to inform the residents.

3. No. The council should have set up a charter review committee, including residents.

4. No. Some of the items proposed so far benefit the council more than the community.

5. Unsure. Its hard to say until after the public has had more opportunities to weigh in.

Vote

View Results
By Ssebuliba Samuel.

The Lord Mayor of Kampala Erias Lukwago has asked the youth in Kampala has asked youth to shun the ongoing LDU recruitment because its illegal and risky.

Yesterday the chief of defense forces Gen David Muhoozi said that these 24,000 recruits will be receiving 200,000 each as their monthly salary.

However Lukwago said that this hoodwinking since government has even failed to meet the 10,000 monthly salary it promised to LCI chairmen.

He has now asked them to concentrate on their own project which to push them out of poverty.
By Benjamin Jumbe.

President Museveni has vowed to fight any attempts by individuals to own city markets.

The president was addressing Nakasero vendors this afternoon on one of his rallies in the city.

The president said to streamline management of the city markets, he gave two proposals including Kampala Capital City Authority taking over management of the cities and allowing vendors to have joint ownership

The president also condemned the practice of charging toilet fees by arcade owners, insisting that people renting these arcades should be able to use these facilities at no cost.

KCCA executive director Jenifer Musisi said each building in the city should have toilet facilities for the occupants.

The president is also expected to meet arcade owners.
By Ssebuliba Samuel.

Legislators have asked government to extend the date of banning importation old vehicles into the country which has affected over 5500 vehicles

In May parliament passed the Traffic and Road Safety (Amendment) Bill, 2018 that among others effected a ban on the importation of vehicles that are 15 years old or more from their date of manufacture.

Acording to the Kampala Central Division MP Muhammad Nsereko ministry of finance needs to prevail over the Uganda Revenue Authority to extend this date

He said that over 5500 vehicles are packed at URA offices and this is affecting Ugandan business people who are struggling with capital

However in response the state minister for Finance David Bahati said that ministry of Finance has no chance to exempt the Taxes unless the Law is amended again to allow the exemptions.
By Moses Ndhaye.

The government of United Kingdom has given 5.1 Million Pounds to Uganda to help the country in its efforts to check any outbreak of Ebola.

The donation was announced by the visiting United Kingdom Minister in charge of Africa region Harriet Baldwin while touring the Uganda virus Research Institute in Entebbe which houses the viral hemorrhagic fever Laboratory.

She says the Money is intended to help the country fight any possible outbreak of the Ebola disease through carrying out surveillance at the broader points.

Currently Uganda is on high alert surveillance due to an outbreak of Ebola in neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.

Baldwin says Ebola outbreak must be defeated through carrying out more Research about the disease and building a strong human resource to render quality services to the community.

This additional grant is among several grants the UK government has given to Uganda to curb outbreaks of viral diseases in the country.
By Kim Hyun-bin



Fears of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak has resurfaced for the first time in three years after a 61-year-old man contracted the virus during a business trip to Kuwait earlier this month.



The man came into contact with over 400 people including those on the plane, and had close contact with 21 of them _ flight attendants, passengers in the seats around him, immigration officials and medical staff. They are being monitored and have to report to the quarantine authorities about their everyday condition, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).



Unlike the first outbreak in 2015, which resulted in 38 deaths and infections of 186 people, the second outbreak has been well contained so far, with most of those coming into close contact testing negative for the disease.



The first outbreak had a far worse outcome as the government lacked knowledge about the disease and consequently the knowhow on suitable quarantine measures.



Since then, measures have been enhanced to help prevention of any future outbreaks of the virus.



To better inform the public, the Korean Society of Infectious Diseases (KSID) published a MERS white paper in 2015, which listed the rumors and facts of MERS after the first outbreak.



Is MERS an airborne virus?



No. MERS is not virally contagious. It is mostly spread through contact with an infected person's bodily fluids such as nasal discharges and coughs.



"If MERS was airborne, most of a patient's family members would also be diagnosed with the disease, but only 5 to 10 percent were infected _ an unrealistic figure if the virus could be transmitted through air. It would have infected their local community and spread rapidly through subways and buses," said Kim Tae-hyung, a professor of the Division of Infection Diseases at the Soon Chun Hyang University Hospital.



However, in May 2015, the first rumors of MERS being airborne arose after a patient tested positive for MERS without any known close contact with the first patient.



The problem was the government's definition of "close contact" was poorly defined. In 2014, the government defined close contact as "people within a two-meter radius of a MERS patient for over an hour without any safety gear including masks, gloves and eye protection."



The rule was made after reviewing the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for SARS and H1N1 swine flu.



However, unlike the CDC and the WHO, the Korean government lacked information and data on preventing MERS and the government set the critical contact area as too small which led to infections outside their surveillance range.



After dealing with the first outbreak, the government erased the one-hour contact and replaced it with "anyone who has a fever over 37.5 degrees Celsius after encountering a MERS patient within a two-meter radius."



"The CDC included other preventive options to halt the spread of the virus but the KCDC guidelines mainly focused on the one-hour contact within a two-meter radius without other detailed preventive options, which was a disastrous mistake," according to the KSID.



How to prevent infection



Symptoms of MERS are fever, coughing, and respiratory difficulties. Patients may also suffer from an upset stomach, vomiting, and diarrhea.



After conducting a survey on 46 MERS patients who were allowed to select multiple criteria, 41 had fever, 16 constantly coughed, 11 had respiratory difficulties, followed by muscle pain and diarrhea.



The symptoms were noticeable between two to 14 days after infection. Before apparent symptoms, experts say the virus is not contagious.



The median incubation period for MERS with limited human-to-human transmission is approximately five days. However, the longest incubation period recorded by the KCDC was 14 days.



To prevent infection, health officials recommend washing hands routinely and not touching the eyes, nose, and mouth when hands are not sanitized. In addition, people are advised to make sure to cover their mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing and avoiding people with fever.



MERS is a coronavirus respiratory disease with a fatality rate of 20 percent to 46 percent, contracted through contact with infected camels and spread through close contact with a MERS-infected person.



The first MERS case was in Saudi Arabia, and spread to other countries. As of June, the WHO has reported 2,229 confirmed cases worldwide.


Thursday, October 4, 2018

Utah

The pertinent portion of Utah's postconviction DNA testing statute, Utah Code Ann.  78-35a-301(2)(c), states that:

(2) A person convicted of a felony offense may at any time file a petition for postconviction DNA testing in the trial court that entered the judgment of conviction against him if the person asserts his actual innocence under oath and the petition alleges: (c) the person identifies the specific evidence to be tested and states a theory of defense, not inconsistent with theories previously asserted at trial, that the requested DNA testing would support.

So, where does that leave pleading defendants?

Given that Utah's statute requires a petitioner to establish a theory "not inconsistent with theories previously asserted at trial," it seems highly likely that Utah would not allow pleading defendants to seek postconviction DNA testing.

Interestingly, Utah's actual innocence statute (based on non-DNA evidence) states that [i]f the conviction for which the petitioner asserts factual innocence was based upon a plea of guilty, the petition shall contain the specific nature and content of the evidence that establishes factual innocence.

Kevin Peterson was able to use this Utah law to prove his actual innocence despite his guilty plea. Peterson had been accused of sexually abusing his son and eventually entered into a plea agreement, which stated in pertinent part, I did not sexually abuse [my son]. However, after being fully advised as to the consequences of my decision by my attorney, I want to plead guilty to the second-degree felony. After Peterson was convicted, his son recanted. Petersons attorneys also retained two experts who reviewed the medical examination of Petersons son and concluded that there was no evidence of sexual abuse. Based on this new evidence, Peterson filed a petition for a writ of actual innocence; the State did not oppose it. Peterson was released twelve years after being arrested.

-CM

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/evidenceprof/2018/10/utah-the-pertinent-portion-of-utahs-postconviction-dna-testing-statute-utah-code-ann-78-35a-3012c-states-that.html
Scarborough Leader

The Oak Hill Players are performing the musical 'Honk!', their first live performance since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Username: Password: or Register Thread Rating: 2 Vote(s) - 3 Average

1

2

3

4

5

Senator Heidi Heitkamp is done, done, doneThe Senator from North Dakota just ann LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 462009

10-04-2018 10:17 PM











Post: #1 Senator Heidi Heitkamp is done, done, doneThe Senator from North Dakota just ann

Advertisement



https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign-po...rth-dakota

That poll from yesterday said, among likely voters, 17 percent said they would be more likely to support Heitkamp if she votes to confirm Kavanaugh, while 34 percent said they would be less likely to vote for her if she rejects the judge.



She lost 10 points in the polls because of her choice to side against Judge Kavanaugh. Chances are great that she will now lose more voters in her race for reelection.



Heitkamp Tweeted:



When I listened to Ford testify, I heard the voices of women I..who have similar stories of sexual assault and abuse. Countless North Dakotans and others close to me have since reached out and told me their stories of being raped or sexually assaulted. Ford gave heartfelt, credible, and persuasive testimony. It took great courage and also came at great personal cost..It was clear that she was testifying not because she wanted to, but because she felt it was her civic duty. After doing my due diligence and now that the record is apparently closed, I will vote against his confirmation.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign-po...rth-dakota





Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) was 12 points behind challenger Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), according to a poll released Wednesday, the second survey in as many days showing her trailing by a double-digit margin.



WHAT IS SHE THINKING? THAT WAS A KAMIKAZE MOVE! Senator Heidi Heitkamp is done, done, doneThe Senator from North Dakota just announced her vote against Judge Kavanaugh. This sealed her fateThat poll from yesterday said, among likely voters, 17 percent said they would be more likely to support Heitkamp if she votes to confirm Kavanaugh, while 34 percent said they would be less likely to vote for her if she rejects the judge.She lost 10 points in the polls because of her choice to side against Judge Kavanaugh. Chances are great that she will now lose more voters in her race for reelection.Heitkamp Tweeted:When I listened to Ford testify, I heard the voices of women I..who have similar stories of sexual assault and abuse. Countless North Dakotans and others close to me have since reached out and told me their stories of being raped or sexually assaulted. Ford gave heartfelt, credible, and persuasive testimony. It took great courage and also came at great personal cost..It was clear that she was testifying not because she wanted to, but because she felt it was her civic duty. After doing my due diligence and now that the record is apparently closed, I will vote against his confirmation.Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) was 12 points behind challenger Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), according to a poll released Wednesday, the second survey in as many days showing her trailing by a double-digit margin.WHAT IS SHE THINKING? THAT WAS A KAMIKAZE MOVE! LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 309375

10-04-2018 10:21 PM











Post: #2 RE: Senator Heidi Heitkamp is done, done, doneThe Senator from North Dakota just ann

faux news poll. We'll see. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 463503

10-04-2018 10:36 PM











Post: #3 RE: Senator Heidi Heitkamp is done, done, doneThe Senator from North Dakota just ann

Most women are highly emotional creatures and are not fit to run a government. Spiddy

Registered User

User ID: 352353

10-04-2018 10:37 PM



Posts: 18,853









Post: #4 RE: Senator Heidi Heitkamp is done, done, doneThe Senator from North Dakota just ann

That's an actual name in America?

As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.





H.L. Mencken 1920. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 466077

10-04-2018 10:40 PM











Post: #5 RE: Senator Heidi Heitkamp is done, done, doneThe Senator from North Dakota just ann





Fox poll... LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 463128

10-04-2018 11:18 PM











Post: #6 RE: Senator Heidi Heitkamp is done, done, doneThe Senator from North Dakota just ann



Oh no!!!

34% of the people who wouldnt vote for her anyways arent going to vote for her according the Saudi owned pundit network!!



LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 466134

10-04-2018 11:20 PM











Post: #7 RE: Senator Heidi Heitkamp is done, done, doneThe Senator from North Dakota just ann

LoP Guest Wrote: (10-04-2018 11:18 PM)

Oh no!!!

34% of the people who wouldnt vote for her anyways arent going to vote for her according the Saudi owned pundit network!!





We can send micro drones with explosives in the pipes both ways if things go sour. Like shitholes messing with our politics. We can send micro drones with explosives in the pipes both ways if things go sour. Like shitholes messing with our politics. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 443829

10-04-2018 11:23 PM











Post: #8 RE: Senator Heidi Heitkamp is done, done, doneThe Senator from North Dakota just ann

LoP Guest Wrote: (10-04-2018 10:36 PM) Most women are highly emotional creatures and are not fit to run a government.

As a woman, I can admit that. However, a lot of these men aren't fit to run it either. Looking at you Flake. As a woman, I can admit that. However, a lot of these men aren't fit to run it either. Looking at you Flake. Hrd2Stbd

Registered User

User ID: 460812

10-04-2018 11:23 PM



Posts: 3,807









Post: #9 RE: Senator Heidi Heitkamp is done, done, doneThe Senator from North Dakota just ann

Spiddy Wrote: (10-04-2018 10:37 PM) That's an actual name in America?

Yep, just like Mohammed is now the most popular name in the UK. Yep, just like Mohammed is now the most popular name in the UK. "The First Amendment is first for a reason. The Second Amendment is just in case the first one doesn't work out."



-Dave Chappelle







Be August Landmesser LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 222393

10-04-2018 11:35 PM











Post: #10 RE: Senator Heidi Heitkamp is done, done, doneThe Senator from North Dakota just ann

She doesn't care because she knows she's going to lose anyway. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 439000

10-04-2018 11:38 PM











Post: #11 RE: Senator Heidi Heitkamp is done, done, doneThe Senator from North Dakota just ann

That's what she gets for voting against the NWO Hrd2Stbd

Registered User

User ID: 460812

10-04-2018 11:46 PM



Posts: 3,807









Post: #12 RE: Senator Heidi Heitkamp is done, done, doneThe Senator from North Dakota just ann

LoP Guest Wrote: (10-04-2018 11:23 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (10-04-2018 10:36 PM) Most women are highly emotional creatures and are not fit to run a government.

As a woman, I can admit that. However, a lot of these men aren't fit to run it either. Looking at you Flake.

"The First Amendment is first for a reason. The Second Amendment is just in case the first one doesn't work out."



-Dave Chappelle







Be August Landmesser
















Username: Password: or Register Thread Rating: 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average

1

2

3

4

5

Israel's New F-35s vs. Russia's S-300s in Syria (Who Wins in a Shootout?) LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 443824

10-05-2018 06:28 PM











Post: #1 Israel's New F-35s vs. Russia's S-300s in Syria (Who Wins in a Shootout?)

Advertisement







Even without the full Block 3F capability immediately available, Tel Avivs F-35 fleet would offer the Israel Defense Force a potent capability to strike against Syrias newly acquired S-300s, certainly a better capability than offered by any conventional fighter. However, there is little prospect that Israel would attack those batteries while the Russian still more or less have those weapons under their direct control.



Russia has delivered the formidable S-300 air and missile defense system to Syria.



However, it will still take several months for Assad regime crews to learn how to operate the sophisticated air defense system under Russian tutelage. In the meantime, the weapons are almost certainly going to be operated by Russian military advisors. The presence of Russian forces means that Tel Aviv might be temporarily constrained against striking at those S-300 missile batteries, if it were so inclined. But in strictly military terms, the presence of those weapons does not necessarily limit Israels ability to do so. Israels new fleet of stealthy Lockheed Martin F-35I Adir versions of the Joint Strike Fighter afford Tel Aviv the ability to defeat the S-300 with relative ease.





https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/i...tout-32627 There are no winners in a war.Even without the full Block 3F capability immediately available, Tel Avivs F-35 fleet would offer the Israel Defense Force a potent capability to strike against Syrias newly acquired S-300s, certainly a better capability than offered by any conventional fighter. However, there is little prospect that Israel would attack those batteries while the Russian still more or less have those weapons under their direct control.Russia has delivered the formidable S-300 air and missile defense system to Syria.However, it will still take several months for Assad regime crews to learn how to operate the sophisticated air defense system under Russian tutelage. In the meantime, the weapons are almost certainly going to be operated by Russian military advisors. The presence of Russian forces means that Tel Aviv might be temporarily constrained against striking at those S-300 missile batteries, if it were so inclined. But in strictly military terms, the presence of those weapons does not necessarily limit Israels ability to do so. Israels new fleet of stealthy Lockheed Martin F-35I Adir versions of the Joint Strike Fighter afford Tel Aviv the ability to defeat the S-300 with relative ease. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 466287

10-05-2018 06:30 PM











Post: #2 RE: Israel's New F-35s vs. Russia's S-300s in Syria (Who Wins in a Shootout?)

"There are no winners in a war. "









Wrong! LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 466275

10-05-2018 06:31 PM











Post: #3 RE: Israel's New F-35s vs. Russia's S-300s in Syria (Who Wins in a Shootout?)

the one who turns on the jammer first LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 466282

10-05-2018 06:36 PM











Post: #4 RE: Israel's New F-35s vs. Russia's S-300s in Syria (Who Wins in a Shootout?)





The F35 would be marginally better than conventional aircraft against the S-300 missile system. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 443824

10-05-2018 06:50 PM











Post: #5 RE: Israel's New F-35s vs. Russia's S-300s in Syria (Who Wins in a Shootout?)

LoP Guest Wrote: (10-05-2018 06:30 PM) "There are no winners in a war. "









Wrong!

It is not going to be you that`s for sure. It is not going to be you that`s for sure. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 466282

10-06-2018 01:20 AM











Post: #6 RE: Israel's New F-35s vs. Russia's S-300s in Syria (Who Wins in a Shootout?)





Looks like we might find out soon! NormalIsSubjective



User ID: 461465

10-06-2018 01:46 AM



Posts: 21,701









Post: #7 RE: Israel's New F-35s vs. Russia's S-300s in Syria (Who Wins in a Shootout?)

LoP Guest Wrote: (10-05-2018 06:50 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (10-05-2018 06:30 PM) "There are no winners in a war. "









Wrong!

It is not going to be you that`s for sure.



It'll be the MIC, as usual. It'll be the MIC, as usual. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 450011

10-06-2018 01:55 AM











Post: #8 RE: Israel's New F-35s vs. Russia's S-300s in Syria (Who Wins in a Shootout?)

I thought I read somewhere that the f35 is garbage and that some of the OLD fighter jets are better..is that true? LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 466282

10-06-2018 02:26 AM











Post: #9 RE: Israel's New F-35s vs. Russia's S-300s in Syria (Who Wins in a Shootout?)





It will be interesting. The F35 only has two internal weapons bays and if it wants to maintain a clean profile, it limits what it can carry to keep it's stealth. It isn't invisible either, it's only low radar visibility. But Israel is known for a mix in their tactics, so they'll use their F16-15s to draw fire. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 465516

10-06-2018 02:40 AM











Post: #10 RE: Israel's New F-35s vs. Russia's S-300s in Syria (Who Wins in a Shootout?)

If the Israeli's hired Germans to overhaul the F-35: Israel.



If Israel is using factory F-35's, and Syria's Russian built systems actually work: Syria



Chances are though, there will be catastrophic failures in both the F-35 and S-300s, systems, so stalemate. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 460404

10-06-2018 02:47 AM











Post: #11 RE: Israel's New F-35s vs. Russia's S-300s in Syria (Who Wins in a Shootout?)

russia delevered s300 to protect its own planes from accidental shootdown



I would think Russia would consider it an attack on its own interests if Israel targets those s300 LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 466282

10-06-2018 02:56 AM











Post: #12 RE: Israel's New F-35s vs. Russia's S-300s in Syria (Who Wins in a Shootout?)





It's an escalation that Israel doesn't want. D3VILSR3J3CT

...

User ID: 464456

10-06-2018 02:59 AM



Posts: 15,604









Post: #13 RE: Israel's New F-35s vs. Russia's S-300s in Syria (Who Wins in a Shootout?)

The American Taxpayer. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 436986

10-06-2018 03:11 AM











Post: #14 RE: Israel's New F-35s vs. Russia's S-300s in Syria (Who Wins in a Shootout?)

S-300 will drop those pieces of shit like Nobody's business..
















Lunaticoutpost.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program , anaffiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.Amazon, the Amazon logo, MYHABIT, and the MYHABIT logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.Don't be a pest to the forum.No profanity in thread-titles or usernamesNo excessive profanity in postsNo Racism, Antisemitism + HateNo calls for violence against anyone..This website exists for fun and discussion only. The reader is responsible for discerning the validity, factuality or implications of information posted here, be it fictional or based on real events. The content of posts on this site, including but not limited to links to other web sites, are the expressed opinion of the original poster and are in no way representative of or endorsed by the owners or administration of this website. The posts on this website are the opinion of the specific author and are not statements of advice, opinion, or factual information on behalf of the owner or administration of LunaticOutPost.Com. The owners or administration of this website can't be hold responsible for content hosted on sites that posters link to in; including, but not limited to, posts, signatures, private messages and such. This site may contain content not suitable for minors and if you feel you might be offended by such content, you should log off immediately.This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Users may make such material available in an effort to advance awareness and understanding of issues relating to civil rights, economics, individual rights, international affairs, liberty, science & technology, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.In accordance with industry accepted best practices we ask that users limit their copy / paste of copyrighted material to the relevant portions of the article you wish to discuss (no more than 50% of the source material) provide a link back to the original articleIf you are a legal copyright holder or a designated agent for such and you believe a post on this website falls outside the boundaries of "Fair Use" and legitimately infringes on yours or your clients copyright please contact [email protected] This website is owned by :Marco ZwaneveldDrijfriemstraat 522516 XR The HagueNetherlands.I will not rent, sell, share or otherwise disclose your personal information to any third party.We might contact you from time to time regarding your purchases or the services (like forums and announcement lists) you have subscribed to.Some of the 3rd party advertisers on lunaticoutpost.com may use cookiesto track peformance and/or to serve relevant ads.If you wish to read more and/or opt out of such cookies, please visit: http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/
PCSO hands P2m to help end violence vs women

posted October 05, 2018 at 11:00 pm by Manila Standard October 05, 2018 at 11:00 pm

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office has donated a P2-million sponsorship to the Philippine Commission on Women for the 18-day Campaign to End Violence Against Women in November 2018. Its time to further our collective actions to end violence against women. Let us all work together so that our women and girls can live free from harassment, harmful practices, and all other forms of violence. I hope that this sponsorship from PCSO will go a long way to boost the campaign, said PCSO general manager Alexander Balutan who led the turnover of check to PCW. The 18-day Campaign to End Violence Against Women is observed annually from Nov. 25 to Dec. 12 to raise awareness among all stakeholders that VAW is a public issue of national concern.It supports the Philippine governments goal to protect the human rights of women and its commitment to address all forms of VAW. The event was also witnessed by the PCSO Chairman Anselmo Simeon Pinili and other members of the board and PCW representatives.

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.
MMDA to close Cwealth U-turn

posted October 05, 2018 at 11:05 pm by Joel E. Zurbano October 05, 2018 at 11:05 pm

The Metro Manila Development Authority on Friday announced it would close the U-turn slot along Commonwealth Avenue beginning today (Oct. 6) to give way to the construction of the Metro Railway Transit Line 7 (MRT-7). MMDA general manager Jose Arturo Garcia Jr. said the U-turn slot closure, particularly at Don Antonio, would last for two months as private contractor EEI Corp. begins the construction of an abutment station in the area. For the meantime, motorists are advised to use the Eclaro U-turn slot, located 700 meters from the one to be closed. The MRT 7 project involves the construction of a 23-kilometer railway system with 14 stations from North Avenue, Quezon City to San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.It is expected to serve thousands of passengers in Metro Manila and nearby provinces of Bulacan and Rizal when completed. Please bear with us. This is one of the projects under the Build, Build, Build program, one of the governments long term solutions to address traffic in the metro, said Garcia in a press briefing Friday.

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.
Duterte appoints ex-Army chief to head DSWD

posted October 05, 2018 at 11:15 pm by Nathaniel Mariano October 05, 2018 at 11:15 pm

President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday said he would appoint retiring Philippine Army Commanding General Lt. Gen Rolando Bautista to head the Department of Social Welfare and Development. In his speech before the members of the Philippine Military Academy Alumni Association, Inc. in Malacanang, Duterte expressed his preference for Bautista to be the next Social Welfare secretary. Ill announce it, the next DSWD secretary... Rolly, Rolly Bautista. Sorry secretary, Duterte said, apologizing after he mistakenly announced Eduardo del Rosario, chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, as the incoming DSWD secretary. Duterte originally planned for the Army chief to head the National Food Authority after his appointee Jason Aquino asked to be relieved.He, however, changed his plans for Bautistas post-military career, as he now wants the former Army chief to focus on Filipinos social welfare and development. Bautista, the first Presidential Security Group chief under Duterte, will retire from the military on October 15 as he turns 56 years old. He graduated from the Philippine Military Academy in 1985.

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.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Leonardo de Castro

Supreme Court Chief Justice Leonardo de Castro on Friday formally bowed out of her illustrious career in the government spanning 45 years from both the executive and judicial branches and capped by her 44 days as top magistrate. The Supreme Court held its retirement ceremony for De Castro who will turn 70 years old on Oct. 10, the compulsory retirement age for members of the judiciary. During her valedictory address, De Castro traced her legal and judicial career, and also acknowledged the love and support of her family.She also noted the lack of collegiality in decision-making on administrative matters during the last few years and enumerated the many things that she had accomplished in 44 days as chief justice, according to Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, who attended the retirement rites for the first female top magistrate. De Castro was appointed Chief Justice by President Duterte on Aug. 25, 2018 following the ouster of Maria Lourdes Sereno whose appointment as Chief Justice was nullified by the SC in quo warranto proceedings. The retiring top magistrate has served the government for 45 years both in its executive and judicial branches. She joined the SC as associate justice on Dec. 4, 2007. Her public service career started in 1973 when she was appointed law clerk at the SCs Office of the Clerk of Court and occupied positions as legal/judicial assistant and member of the technical staff of the late Chief Justice Fred Ruiz Castro. De Castro transferred to the Department of Justice in 1978 and served as state counsel and later as assistant chief state counsel. From 1988 to 1997, she was designated as one of the international and peace negotiators of the late President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino and President Fidel V. Ramos who awarded her the Presidential Medal of Merit.On Sept. 23, 1997, De Castro was appointed Sandiganbayan associate justice. After seven years, she was promoted as presiding justice of the anti-graft court until 2007 when she was promoted to the SC. In the Supreme Court, De Castro served as the former working chairperson of the courts first division and later as head of the third division before her promotion as Chief Justice. She is the chairperson of the Management Committee of the Judicial Reform Support Project, working vice-chairperson of the Committee on Ethics and Ethical Standards and of the Halls of Justice Coordinating Committee, chairperson of the Committee on Gender Responsiveness in the Judiciary, the Committee on Family Courts and Juvenile Concerns, the Special Committee to Draft Rules on Sexual Harassment in the Judiciary, and member of the Supreme Court Internal Rules Committee. During the ceremony, there was the traditional presentation of tokens to De Castro. The SC flag was presented by Justice Jose C. Reyes Jr.; the Philippine Flag by Justice Andres B. Reyes Jr.; the SC seal, from Justice Noel G. Tijam; judicial robe from Justice Alfredo Benjamin Caguioa and brass shingle from Justice Francis H. Jardeleza; gavel from Justice Marvic Mario Victor F. Leonen; SC pen and time piece from Justice Estela M. Perlas Bernabe; book of decision and the Chief Justice Jose Abad Santos award from Justice Mariano C. del Castillo; and statuette of judicial excellence from Justice Diosdado M. Peralta. The reading and presentation of the plaque of recognition was done by Senior Justice Antonio T. Carpio. Chief Justice De Castro also unveiled her portrait that would be displayed in the SC hall. After the ceremony, a retirement dinner will be held at the historic land mark Manila Hotel.
President Rodrigo Duterte did not link Chinese Ambassador Zhao Jianhua to a Davao tycoon allegedly involved in illegal drug trade, the Palace clarified on Friday. Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque, who called for a press briefing, said that some online news sites appeared to have misinterpreted Dutertes statements. I think its very clear that what the President meant to say was he cannot believe that Michael Yang is involved in the drug trade. And because he was saying he could not believe that Michael Yang is involved in the drug trade, the report that the President linked the Chinese Ambassador to a drug lord is obviously false, Roque said after playing a clip of Dutertes speech before members of the Philippine Military Academy Alumni Association Inc. in Malacanang. In his speech, the President cleared a Davao-based Chinese businessman named Michael Yang who was allegedly involved in the illegal drug trade. They said Michael Yang is a drug addict. The Chinese ambassador sleeps in his house, hes even part of the entourage of the Chinese Premier, Duterte told the PMAAAI alumni. The President added Yang owns Davao City Los Amigos shopping center, saying that Yangs close ties with Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Zhao Jinhua and Chinese Premier Le Keqiang are proof that the tycoon does not have any record of illegal activities. Hes with Ambassador Zhao who is from a military. You cant fool him. Thats nonsense, the President said. News reports, however, misinterpreted Dutertes statement, saying the President linked the two officials to an alleged drug syndicate. That report by Rappler is wrong, false; even malicious. It is also very dangerous because it could possibly endanger the bilateral relations between the Philippines and China, said Roque, as he called on news site Rappler to be responsible and professional by issuing a clarification. He said Rapplers interpretation of Dutertes speech as seen through their article had absolutely no basis. It is only but proper if they have any sense of responsible journalism that they correct their story. Its important that they correct their story, because their story, in turn, has been cited by international wire agencies, said Roque. Obviously, because it has gone international, it would have dire consequences for the diplomatic relations between the Philippines and China, he said. Rappler, a news agency banned from entering Malacanang and covering presidential engagements for supposedly being foreign-owned, and other online news sites have already corrected their articles following the clarification from the Palace. In a related development, Senator Richard Gordon asked the Bureau of Customs (BOC) to tap expert X-Ray machine operators and experts on drug and other contraband detection. The drug war has taken a different tone, not only here but throughout the whole world. The illegal drugs entered the country through heavy equipment at more sophisticated so that even our x-rays  the x-ray technicians should be taught. Nakalusot sa kanila yun e, Gordon said Gordon made the proposal in the Blue Ribbon Committee hearing on the P6.8-billion worth of drugs smuggled inside electronic magnetic lifters shipped into the country through the BOC.The senator learned from the hearings conducted that the BOC does not have sufficient trained X-ray specialists. He said BOC personnel should get proper training on operating the X-ray machines, analyzing X-ray images, and the latest techniques on drug smuggling and detection of drugs and other contraband, here and abroad. Testifying before Gordons panel, BOC lawyer Ma. Lourdes Mangrobang said the empty magnetic lifters found in Cavite contained illegal drugs. However, her statement was countered by her colleagues, and considered her statement prejudicial to the image of the BOC which undermines the efforts of Commissioner Isidro Lapena and the present administration. She still insisted her assumptions notwithstanding the earlier pronouncement of President Duterte that the reported shabu allegedly contained in magnetic lifters is speculative, said the BOC. Gordon noted that the drug war has taken on a different form in all parts of the world. He said drug syndicates are now employing more sophisticated means of smuggling drugs. Its a new war on drugs that were fighting and we have to have new weapons. Not only should you upgrade your equipment, you have to have your people trained on how to operate the equipment, he advised the BOC, he said. The BOC also reported that at least 105 container vans were illegally released from the Mindanao Container Terminal (MICT) under the Port of Cagayan De Oro (CDO). The House Committee on Ways and Means chaired by Quirino Rep. Dakila Cua is investigating the illegal release and transportation of the 105 container vans. It was reported that the release was done through the use of a local Customs Memorandum Order (CMO) crafted by a former BOC official. It was reportedy approved to favor a container yard operator. The CMO serves as a guideline in the examination of cargoes that were discharged at the sub-port of Tagaloan, Misamis Oriental. The said CMO expressly allows the transfer and release of cargoes by the Mindanao Container Terminal Services Inc., without any liability. He said the transfer will be made to the customs clearance area, a container yard owned and operated by favored operator. Some brokers have cried foul over the reported procedures introduced by the CMO that resulted to double handling of cargoes before its release from customs. They questioned the need to transfer the container vans to another container yard when it could be done while inside the yard of Mindanao International Container Terminal Services Inc. Every transfer and examination of container vans at the container yard (designated examination area) costs a legitimate importer to pay around 7,000 pesos to 8,000 pesos to the container yard operator. Approximately 900 container vans are being released in the MCT on a weekly basis, they said. They also disclosed the existing tara system, which was also earlier hit by Sen. Panfilo Lacson as the prevaling situation in the BOC. In a privilege speech, Lacson said Faeldon unearthed the massive tara system in the BOC. He said corrupt personnel at the bureau have been receiving payoffs, without hesitation, in order to operate with impunity. A former chief of the PNP, Lacson said it was too obvious that huge drug shipments were successfully smuggled under their noses through the indispensable participation of Customs officials. He pointed out that the governments war on drugs will not succeed without waging another war, which is the war on corruption.
NEW LAKAS MEMBERS. Philippine Constitution Association president and Lakas-CMD Party president Martin Romualdez (2nd from left), assisted by Lakas-CMD Party Secretary General and Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay Jr. (left), administers the oathtaking ceremony of Eastern Samar candidates for its lone district, Congressman Rafael Asebias (center), Quinapondan Mayor Denver Balbuena, (2nd from right) and for Famy, Laguna Mayor Charlie Llamas (right), after a short meeting at the social hall of the House Speakers office at the House of Representatives. Ver Noveno

Former Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, president of the Philippine Constitution Association, has backed the senatorial bid of detained former senator Ramon Revilla Jr. I am pleased and honored to officially announce the candidacy for the Senate of Senator Bong Revilla Jr., our party chairman, Romualdez said in a statement. Romualdez said Revillas decision to join the senatorial race in the May 2019 elections was reached after a series of consultations with his family, close friends, constituents and political leaders. The former Leyte congressman said Revilla is one of the most qualified senatorial aspirants. His passion and dedication to serve the people will bring positive change and help improve the countrys good governance, policies, and lawmaking process, Romualdez said. He added Revillas experience as a two-term senator has helped him gain an understanding about the complexities of various problems besetting the nation.Senator Bongs integrity and honesty will make him a strong candidate for the Senate. With the people and Gods help, the Lakas-CMD is looking forward to his victory in next years midterm poll, he said. Meanwhile, Romualdez said the Lakas-Christian Democrats will also support the senatorial candidates to be endorsed by Hugpong ng Pagbabago regional party of presidential daughter and incumbent Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio. We look forward very well to local and national races. Lakas-CMD has produced two excellent presidents. President Fidel V. Ramos and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and maybe someday, Lakas will produce another president, ended Romualdez, Lakas-CMD president and former House Independent Bloc Leader of the 16th Congress representing the first district of Leyte. Meanwhile, lawyer Lorenzo Larry Gadon, has also indicated his desire to run for senator and expressed confidence that he would win a Senate seat after next years midterm polls.Gadon had filed an impeachment rap against then Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno, which set the stage for the removal of the former chief justice through a quo warranto petition. I am very confident of winning because the people do not want idiots, he said. If you take a look at the social media, you will see that one can no longer fool the people, he added. Despite his low ranking in the Pulse Asias September survey, Gadon reiterated he would win because of his popularity. He lauded comedian Michael V. who spoofed him in his weekly television program, Bubble Gang. Where I go, people would mob me. These are the millennials, professionals, senior citizens, he said. Gadon is running under the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan. He said he would not ask for any endorsement from the Duterte administration. I am not begging for endorsement. I want to win on my own name. I will win on my own name, he said.
THANK YOU, TEACHER. A bouquet of flowers for an unidentified teacher from her Grade 10 students at the Araullo High School in Manila on World Teachers Day. Public school teachers nationwide are seeking an increase in their salaries. Norman Cruz

Over 7,000 teacher-delegates nationwide gathered in Ormoc City on Friday to celebrate this years World Teachers Day.Education Secretary Leonor Briones, along with Undersecretary Tonisito M.C. Umali, and other key officials, thanked Mayor Richard Gomez and his wife, Leyte 4th District Rep. Lucy Torres-Gomez for hosting the event. Yearly, we move from Luzon to the Visayas to Mindanao and then back to Luzon again. Last year, we held the celebration in Bicol which is a part of Luzon. Now, for the Visayas, the secretary chose Region VIII as the host of the celebration, said Umali. Ormoc City is a 1st class independent component city in Leyte that was once very controversial due to the effect of a devastating calamity, the Typhoon Yolanda...They want to prove that they can host and handle national events after the said calamity, he added. In a related development: Senator Juan Edgardo Angara has filed a resolution urging the Senate to look into the recent cases of suicides committed by public school teachers to institute needed measures to further safeguard their physical, emotional and mental welfare. READ: Metro Manila teachers hit DepEd for inhumane conditions Senate Resolution 914 aims to determine whether the suicides were indeed caused by heavy workload as claimed by a group advocating teachers rights and welfare and come up with measures that would address the lack of qualified mental health professionals in the countrys public school system. Angara said a thorough evaluation was recommended to identify if the current workload of public teachers is detrimental to their holistic well-being, address the current and arising needs of our countrys educators, and determine the necessary steps to ensure that our teachers are afforded with accessible mental health services. In an interview, Umali urged every Filipino to celebrate the National Teachers month from Sept. 5 to Oct. 5 like how they would celebrate Christmas and other happy holidays to revitalize the image and respect for teaching as a vocation by increasing awareness on the value of teachers in the Philippine society. Following this years theme , Briones honored those who are in the teaching profession, acknowledging the crucial role, loyal service, and dedicated commitment of teachers in developing globally minded citizens, nurturing families, strengthening communities, and building the nation. DepEd also thanked its partners including Metrobank Foundation Inc., One Meralco Foundation, Globe Telecommunications, Enchanted Kingdom, Philippine Postal Corp., and other private organizations and government agencies for their treats as a token of gratitude to the teachers. Schools both in private and public around the country held synchronized programs and activities to celebrate the event. Amid the issues and controversies faced by the DepEd, Briones said that teaching remained a fulfilling profession and vocation. Compared to the previous years, there has been an increase in the teachers salary and for the fourth trance in 2019, we are looking forward to further increase, Umali added. The education official also pointed out that the agency has already reduced the clerical forms to be submitted by teachers from 36 to 10 reports so they can focus more on teaching. Last July, it was reported that a newly hired teacher from La Paz, Leyte hanged herself. A month later, another young teacher from Bacoor City, Cavite also committed suicide. According to accounts and reports from the teachers colleagues and friends via social media, one of the numerous factors which weighed in on the two teachers might be the heavy amount of non-teaching related workload such as clerical tasks, class observations, and other paper works required of them. Angara lamented the shortage of registered guidance counselors in public schools, which makes it harder for teachers to seek advice and support for their mental health problems. With the real cause of the suicides cannot be determined with absolute certainty, current conditions with regard to the availability of guidance counselors in public schools make it harder for our teachers to seek professional help especially since these guidance counselors often care only to students, Angara said. Under the DepEd staffing standard, Angara noted that public and private elementary and high schools were required to hire one guidance counselor for every 500 students.He also noted that the recently enacted Republic Act 11036 or the Mental Health Act also provided that all public and private educational institutions shall be required to have a complement of mental health professionals. The same law also reinforces this mandate to the DepEd, the Commission on Higher Education, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to ensure that mental health promotions in public and private educational institutions shall be adequately complemented with qualified mental health professionals. However, Angara said the accessibility of psychiatric and psychosocial services for public school teachers had yet to be specified in the implementing rules and regulations of the law. Through Senate Bill 135 which he filed, Angara wants to upgrade the minimum salary grade level of public school teachers from Salary Grade 11 to 19doubling their current monthly base pay from P20,179 to P42,099. Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino said two new reforms to promote the welfare of teachers and recognize their contributions to the development of our country and the lives of students. He is set to file a measure titled National Teachers Day Act to make Oct. 5 a paid non-working holiday for all teachers. He will also submit the Teachers Compensation and Support Act to ensure reasonable working conditions and provide free legal assistance and free counselling services to educators. The measure will also provide an education subsidy for qualified and financially disadvantaged teachers who want to pursue further education. The Teachers Compensation and Support Act is being pushed by different stakeholders and organizations, which include: Philippine Association of Private Schools, Colleges, and Universities, Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines , National Alliance of Private Schools Philippines, Inc., and the PEAC-Fund Assistance to Private Education. Sen. Loren Legarda lauded the contributions of teachers to society and assured them of her support through laws and policies that would benefit the entire teaching community. Teachers are our unsung heroes who, day in and out, dedicate their lives to molding the minds of the Filipino youth, despite challenges in our education system, Legarda said. We owe much of our achievements to the women and men whose perseverance, commitment and selfless dedication benefit not only our students but also the society in general. Government, in turn, should guarantee them adequate support through the expansion of benefits and incentives, and the strengthening of professional development programs for educators, she said. As Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance, Legarda has supported the increase in the chalk or cash allowance of teachers under the national budget. For 2018, chalk allowance of teachers has increased to P3,500 per teacher. In 2017, it was P2,500 per teacher and P1,500 in 2015. For the proposed 2019 budget of the DepEd, Legarda recommended the creation of an incentive or honorarium for public school teachers to be given every Oct. 5, World Teachers Day. She also asked the Commission on Elections to make a request to the Department of Budget and Management to ensure the inclusion of the P1.5 billion budget to cover for the honorarium of teachers on election duty, as provided in the Election Service Reform Act. Aside from their teaching duties, teachers are likewise most reliable in serving the general welfare, notably when they serve during election period and when they aid the Philippine Statistics Authority in gathering data from households across the country, said Legarda. Teachers are very important in our society. The value of their commitment to mold the character and values of the youth cannot be overemphasized. We must promote and advance the social, economic, and professional status of teachers and non-teaching personnel commensurate to their invaluable role in national development, Legarda added. World Teachers Day is observed every Oct.5 not only to show appreciation for teachers all over the world but also to be used as a day to assess and help teachers improve. READ: Save the Children salutes Filipino teachers
Roque said he will suggest to the President to issue a medical bulletin to put to rest speculation about his health.

READ: Pray for Rody's healthBishops
READ: Extra rice imports okayed

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Pinol is working out a ban to import the 5-percent broken milled white rice known as the fancy whole grain rice to be able to lower the prices of commercial rice in the market before December. At the first 1stmedia forum in Quezon City, NFA spokesperson Angelo Imperial Jr. said Pinol wanted commercial rice to be 25-percent broken just like the NFA rice being sold at P27 per kilo. Our good secretary met with the millers and importers last Wednesday and discussed the issue. Instead of importing the 5 percent or 10-percent broken milled rice and selling it to the public, he asked the stakeholders to import the 25-percent broken milled rice, or the rice with , he told reporters. At least 25 percent of our NFA rice is broken, or not whole grain, he told the. He said Pinol has set another meeting with the millers and importers on Oct. 18 to iron out their counter-. We may be able to see 25-percent broken [commercial] rice earlier before December, he said. Our secretary is doing consultations, not imposing, with the affected groups reacting on the issue. I cannot say they are objecting, but they have this so-called  counter-hirit, he added. According to Imperial, the commercial rice traders fear that people may no longer buy commercial rice with 25-percent broken grains. This is not yet a decision. We are still negotiating with the millers and importers, he said. He said Pinol wanted to give the local rice farmers the chance to supply good variety of rice to high-end restaurants and hotels that may be affected by the looming ban in the importation of the fancy rice. Meanwhile, Akbayan Party-list Senator Risa Hontiveros pressed Pinol regarding his decision to cancel the leave of absence of former NFA Administrator Jason Aquino and retain his services despite the alleged large-scale corruption and shortage of government-subsidized rice in the market under his term. The Agriculture chief reportedly said he needed Aquino during the transition of the NFA to a new leadership. Why is Aquino, who is included in a CoA report pointing to possible technical malversation in the NFA, allowed to go back to work and tasked no less to transition the NFA to a new leadership? asked Hontiveros. Is the government rewarding corruption? Is it the policy of the government to provide graceful exits to disgraced public officials allegedly involved in corruption? Or is this an attempt to cover his tracks? Hontiveros asked Pinol. In related developments:  The Bureau of Customs has recovered only 16,000 out of the 21,015 missing sacks of rice at the Port of Zamboanga which mysteriously slipped out of the bureaus custody last month allegedly with the help of two top Customs officials in Zamboanga. Joint elements from the Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Intelligence Service, Armed Forces of the Philippines intercepted three vessels containing 23, 015 sacks of rice at Ben Go Wharf, Baliwasan, Zamboanga City, on Sept. 22, 2018. The smuggled rice was turned over to the Bureau of Customs-Zamboanga for inventory and issuance of the corresponding warrant of seizure and detention. On Sept. 30, the rice was discovered to have been missing from BoC-Zamboanga custody.  NFA clarified that the agency charged only a minimum of P165.00 to a maximum of P11,000.00, depending on capitalization for a rice retailers license, not the atrocious amount of P115,000.00 quoted by Senator Win Gatchalian as the license fee for supermarkets to sell NFA rice. Gatchalian was quoted by media as saying the Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association revealed that the NFA is requiring retailers with a paid-up capital of P10 million to pay P115,000 for a permit to sell rice.NFA Central Office management checked with NFA-NCR branch if there was anyone who was assessed with such amount for license to retail and found out there was none. In fact, supermarkets that were already licensed to retail rice before the signing of our MOA didnt need to pay additional fees, NFA-NCR said. NFAis empowered by law,through Presidential Decree No. 4, to collect of fees from grains businessmen for different lines of business like retailing, wholesaling, milling, warehousing, among others. CoA questioned the NFA use of its P5.1-billion subsidy from the national government to pay for maturing loans instead of allocating the funds to the food security program of the agency. Agricultural groups reportedly accused Aquino of technical malversation. The CoA ralso highlighted the lack of documentation and the absence of pertinent documents that prevent the proper assessment of many of the NFAs transactions. It also pointed to the low level of compliance and efficiency in the allocation, distribution and issuance of stocks as well as the sale of ageing stocks. Hontiveros said a report from CoA confirmed the existence of massive corruption in the NFA involving personalities she exposed during her privilege speech on the NFA tara system and previously mentioned by Senator Grace Poe during a Senate Committee on Agriculture hearing. I find it extremely interesting that the CoA report already flagged the issues and anomalies in rice importation, diversion and stocking; that the personalities behind these schemes were already exposed, yet, these people still remain in the NFA, Hontiveros said. Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapena immediately suspended two BoC ranking officials, Port District Collector lawyer Lyceo Martinez and district commander of the Customs Police District, Felimeno Salazar who allegedly connived with smugglers for the illegal release of the seized rice shipment. According to the bureau chief, this has to be done immediately to ensure they will not be able to influence the investigation that is currently undertaken. I will go after the people involved in this and will unmask the illegal activities of Customs personnel from Zamboanga who are in cahoots with smugglers, Lapena declared. Ongoing efforts are now being conducted to recover the missing rice. Lapena said that the bureaus team led to the recovery on Oct. 1 of 5,000 sacks of rice in a warehouse reportedly owned by Basulta Traders Corporation. On Oct. 2, another 3,000 sacks of rice were recovered in Suterville Warehouse, Manga Drive. Meanwhile in Kasanyangan Compound, Sta. Catalina, around 8,000 sacks of rice were also found. I condemn this deplorable act of smugglers and conniving Customs personnel. This is unthinkable especially during this time when rice should be easily available in the markets, Lapena added. The customs chief vowed that the truth will come out and no one will be spared from the results of the ongoing investigation. He directed the investigation team to speed up their probe. Lapena has also sought help from various competent line and law enforcement authorities to recover the remaining missing sacks of rice.
Armed Forces Chief Carlito Galvezs claim that the Justice department has been infiltrated by communists for a supposed Red October uprising has surprised Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra. Personally, this is the first time I heard such allegation, Guevarra said Friday. I will take it up directly with AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] Chief Galvez to get more info from him. We take this seriously, he added. The secretary made his statement after AFP Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations Brig. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. alleged the communists had infiltrated the Department of Justice and are helping in dismissing criminal complaints against the communist rebels. Guevarra expressed confidence in his prosecutors handling of criminal complaints. Our prosecutors rely principally on the evidence submitted by our law enforcers and security personnel, including the AFP, he said. The military claims there are at least 18 schools where the Communist Party of the Philippines-New Peoples Army is allegedly recruiting students as part of their plan to overthrow President Rodrigo Duterte. In other developments:  Senator Panfilo Lacson on Friday rebuked the military for releasing to the public the names of 18 schools in Metro Manila where the CPP is allegedly recruiting members for its ouster plot against the Duterte administration. Senator Francis Escudero agreed with Lacson that any list that was being validated should not have been released to the public.The schools were identified as University of the Philippines Diliman, UP Manila, Polytechnic University of the Philippines Sta. Mesa, Ateneo de Manila University, Dela Salle University, University of Santo Tomas, Adamson University, Far Eastern University, University of the East Recto and Caloocan, Emilio Aguinaldo College, Eulogio Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology, San Beda University, Lyceum University, University of Makati, Caloocan City College, University of Manila and Philippine Normal University.  The Federation of Free Workers expressed alarm over what it called a baseless report by the military that the communists had infiltrated the countrys leading educational institutions. Accusation appears to be making the military fall into the trap of communist psywar, group president Sonny Matula said. The military is mouthing the communist propaganda that the insurgents forces are everywhere including in the academic institutions to show its sphere of influence.  The directors and producers of films about Ferdinand Marcos Martial Law on Friday denounced the AFP allegation that anti-Martial Law film screenings were grounds for recruiting students to the Communist Party of the Philippines. In a press conference at the University of the Philippines Film Institute, the filmmakers, joined by artists, students, and teachers, read a joint statement to address what they called red-baiting and slander. This is red-baiting and slander of the worst kind. It impinges on our right to freedom of expression, speech, and assembly, and endangers us and our audience, the filmmakers said in a statement.  A concerned parent posted on social media a screenshot of her sons school test paper that, she said, had a disturbing content. The parent said it seemed inappropriate to use phrases like policemen are abusive and policemen have pot bellies in a school test on adjectives, especially for Grade 2 pupils who are still in their formative years.
SydneyFarmers in drought-stricken parts of Australia are celebrating after the heavens opened up this week, inundating parched lands with more than a months rain in one day following the countrys driest September on record. Eastern Australia has been suffering from an extended dry periodin some regions stretching across several yearsleaving farmers struggling to keep their sheep and cattle alive with dwindling supplies of feed. A trough system moving across New South Wales state in the southeast of the vast continent since Wednesday has brought wild weather, including heavy rain, to bone-dry towns including Broken Hill and Dubbo. A lot of New South Wales is in drought so getting rain anywhere is quite good, Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Chua Zhi-Weng told AFP. The outback town of Broken Hill received 34.2 millimeters (1.35 inches) of rain on Wednesday, above the October monthly average of 24.2 millimeters and more than what they had received in the previous nine months. Forty-one millimeters! Its bloody great to see. Ive lost my words, one farmer near the outback town of Menindee, which received some 50 millimeters in one day, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It doesnt matter how old you are, rain brings people joy, another farmer told the ABC.In the states central-west, towns battling the dry such as Dubbo received 45 millimeters of rain on Thursday. Further north in the inland regions of Queensland state, graziers welcomed the arrival of storms that gave their fields a much-needed drenching. Despite the wet conditions, meteorologists said more rain was needed in the coming weeks and months to break the drought. We do need some more follow-up rain to overcome the deficit thats been built up over the time we havent had enough rain, Chua added. The weather bureau said on Monday that rainfall in September was very much below average nationally, and particularly low across the southern mainland. The year-to-date has also been exceptionally dry over the mainland southeast, with significant rainfall deficiencies continuing to affect large areas of eastern Australia at timescales out to around two years duration, the bureau added. Farmers will also get little comfort from the weather bureaus forecast of a drier and warmer-than-average end to the year.
''Those who have faith in their government should be accorded the right to choose their heroes."

The problem with the arbitrary classification made by the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines is they rejected altogether the validity of the Arrest, Search and Seizure Order later known as the Presidential Detention Order despite its being upheld by the Supreme Court. The refusal was done to justify the claim of the alleged victims. There are inaccuracies in their claim of extrajudicial executions and disappearances, to wit: First, many of those in the list included those killed in the course of their armed clash with the Armed Forces or possibly executed by their own comrades as alleged deep penetration agents. It was bloated to purposely make it appear that human rights abuses were widespread during the martial law period. Second, their arbitrary listing of alleged victims was designed to instill into the minds of the next generation that massive human right violations took place. Third, while the TFDP is gregarious in pointing out alleged atrocities, many wonder why it failed to account even a single execution carried by the communist rebels, foremost of which were the executions of the Plaza Miranda hand grenade thrower Danny Cordero, and former NPA military commission chief, Manuel Noli Collantes. Everybody knows that hundreds from their own ranks were summarily executed as alleged spies. They even boasted of carrying out the execution. Fourth, their claim for compensation was uncannily supported by the US government which is ironic as it stands today as the greatest violator of human rights. Yes, rebels who fought against the government can create their own heroes, but certainly they cannot demand compensation for the people they want to be elevated as martyrs. That is basic logic. Nevertheless, those who have faith in their government should be accorded the right to choose their heroes, and that include the soldiers who died in its defense. On the contrary and unknown to the public, the Cory Aquino administration chalked up an unprecedented number of human rights violations. For the period from March 1, 1986 to December, 1991, it registered a record 15,999 warrantless arrest and detention, and 1,733 extrajudicial executions, including 189 that occurred in 1990. Mrs. Aquino did that under the aegis of freedom and democracy. The records in Congress indicate that the Commission on Human Rights, and TFDP, for the same period also listed 335 cases of disappearances, and 146 cases of massacre, which happened between March 1, 1986 and 1989, including the infamous Mendiola carnage that claimed the lives of 13 protesting farmers. The TFDP documented human rights violations that during the first 1,000 days of the Aquino regime (1 March 1986 to 21 November 1988) there were 11,911 cases of illegal arrest, 705 summary executions, 88 frustrated summary executions, six deaths associated with cruel treatment or prison conditions, 125 massacres with 480 fatalities and 138 wounded, 136 counts of frustrated massacre, 1,676 tortured victims, 224 involuntary disappearances, 25 civilian deaths in counterinsurgency related activities, 37,133 families in 64 barangays forcibly evacuated, 623 families in 21 barangays hamletted, and 500 families in 37 barangays subjected to food and economic blockade.Even if there are discrepancies in the number of human rights violations cited by the TFDP and that of the Philippine Alliance of Human Right Advocates, that cannot be made an issue because the variation did not indicate a reduction from Marcos to Aquino, but a concurrence of the steep increase in the number of violations. No less than an anti-Marcos opposition stalwart, Justice Abraham Sarmiento, cited the massive human rights violation during the Aquino administration. Somehow, it was glossed over because of the euphoria of freedom from the Marcos dictatorship. If these figures were true, then the reign of Mrs. Aquino was worse than that of Marcos. For the TDFP to claim that 15,999 were arrested without a warrant by a government that vowed to guarantee civil liberties could strike fear to our people. Warrantless arrest is not supposed to take place in the absence of martial law or when the writ of habeas corpus is not suspended because the right to issue arrest warrant is exclusive to the courts. Marcos was honest enough to formalize the arrest and detention of suspects by imposing first martial law to justify the issuance of the controversial ASSOs and PDOs. The same can be said of R.A. No. 10368 or An Act Providing Reparations and Recognition for the Victims of Human Rights Violations during the Marcos Regime. It was enacted on February 25, 2013 on the occasion of the 27th anniversary of their so-called Edsa Revolution. The bait of compensation swelled that it unmasked the true nature of these mendicant rebels. The funny thing about this ploy is that the same mercenaries Noynoy thought he could politically use in the 2016 election supported instead their now hated President Duterte. Opportunism and not ideology prevailed over them. These two nitwit congressmen committed the greatest fraud against the Filipino people, for why should the government appropriate funds to defray those erstwhile rebels turned mendicants? The giving of reparations to the so-called human rights victims is an indictment that our soldiers fought an unjust, illegal and a morally wrong war. Naming Marcos guilty of violating human right was only used to cover their swindling of government funds. Moreover, the authors did not mind that the law they enacted is a travesty to our legal system because they did not bother to declare the imposition of martial law in 1973 as illegal. Rather, they enacted a bill of attainder because it specifically sought to punish Marcos without the benefit of trial. Now that the US has withdrawn from the UN Human Rights Council and refused to recognize the International Criminal Court even branding it as illegitimate, the hypocritical opposition led by the yellow horde, the clergy and the oligarchy are in a quandary on how to package their propaganda on human rights and charge of alleged extrajudicial killings committed by the Duterte administration. US envoy to the UN, Nikki Haley, branded the UNHRC as a hypocritical body that makes a mockery of human rights. On the other hand, Trumps National Security adviser, John Bolton, vowed to protect US citizens. That means the US will not surrender its jurisdiction to the ICC, and the hypocrites where they get their ideological guidance and strength on the issue to convert human rights violation into a weapon for political propaganda, much that the US has openly regurgitated it. The case of the ideologically bankrupt militant Left is even more acute, much that they could not even decipher that the US has substituted international law in favor of national interest in the pursuit of its policy suggesting that it would only be guided by what suits best to its interest, and not to any other thing.
"I can assure the military that there is no Red October uprising being planned in the universities of the Philippines."

Redbaiting is a dangerous mindset. Its one of the most terrible thing government, especially military and police officials, can do. In our history, smearing people with the communist label has resulted in killings, disappearances, and even massacres. And when the target are our young people, such accusations are criminal, endangering the best hope of our society. As a professor of law, philosophy, and governance, with almost 40 years of teaching all sorts of students in schools from Luzon to Mindanao (including seven of the schools tagged by the military/police as infiltrated by Communists), I am totally with the students and youth activists here and I call on everyone to stand by them. We cannot afford to lose another generation of our best and most committed young people. I can assure the military that there is no Red October uprising being planned in the universities of the Philippines. For the Catholic schools, its a Blue October because its a Marian month where we pray the rosary every day. In some schools, October is the end of the semester so the finals week is in the middle of the month and for others its midterms time. In all these schools, I see only young, idealistic people and I see them now endangered by the reckless statements of some officials. As to the accusations that professors are teaching students the wrong thing by showing martial law firms or by talking about martial law in our classrooms, let me be clear that I am very proud of the martial law commemoration exercise I have developed with my students. Using the Bantayog ng mga Bayani roster of heroes, my law and undergraduate students choose martial heroes and heroines that they identify with and share their stories in class using creative means. My students every year sing, dance, perform skits, recite poetry, and produce videos to pay tribute to those who died in the fight against the US-Marcos dictatorship. I will not apologize that I make sure to highlight for my students the connection of the martial law of Marcos with the dangers we face today in the era of Duterte, while also making sure they can make distinctions. In my classes, I do make sure that the students get a full picture of what happened during the dictatorship. We do not romanticize the communist revolutionaries among the heroes and heroines even as we honor them for their courage and sacrifice. For sure, we also do not demonize the soldiers who were faithful to their duties, but condemn only their masters who used military to plunder the people and perpetuate themselves in power. Whenever I have the opportunity, I make sure to honor also the young military officer whose life was cut short in unjustified wars. Earlier this week, in Xavier University (XU), in my hometown Cagayan de Oro where I started my teaching career 37 years ago, I shared with my constitutional law students my own martial law story. The XU campus was a big setting for that story as I taught philosophy there in 1981-83. At night, national democratic collectives openly met in the field behind the chapel. Military intelligence agents enrolled in my classes and followed us around. I knew XU students who died in the struggle, some unfortunately killed by their own comrades.In every class I do the martial law activity, I invite my students to read with me Pete Lacabas Prometheus Unbound, ending with Marcos Hitler a Diktador Tuta and more importantly at the end we all exclaim: Never forget, never again! I am not in a mood to fight the military and the police. Since the 1986 EDSA revolution, I have engaged and collaborated with the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police on human rights, leadership, and governance. As a former government official myself and someone routinely asked by the government to help out in several issues of national importance, I have worked productively with the AFP and PNP countless times. I have lectured (and continue to do so) many times to AFP officials and police officers and all the time they do not disappoint with the seriousness and patriotism they approach the topics I talk aboutfrom climate change to negotiation skills. I have mentored a few military and police officials, some of them already high-ranking, and it has been a pleasure to do that. Because of my long experience with the AFP and PNP, I am bothered by the redbaiting going on. This is not the professional military and police I know. For sure, the recent statements are is based on faulty and outdated intelligence, similar to the terrorism case brought against the Communist Party of the Philippines where many good people were smeared without basis. I am glad to hear PNP Chief Oscar Albayade say he would like to engage with universities. I say we engage and educate each other. I hope I can enlighten General Alabayade and also learn from him. Among others, in that dialogue, I will echo Sarah Elago, Kabataan Youth Representative, who posted in Facebook: By tagging school activities as recruitment fronts in their Red October scam, Duterte and the AFP are setting a dangerous precedent to directly, or through administrators, crackdown on student activities and attack the students right to organize, freedom of expression, and freedom of association. By hitting on films critical of dictators and tyrants, the Duterte regime wishes to stifle critical thinking and expression through film and art. Duterte is playing straight from the Marcosian playbook, engaging in censorship of films and pronouncements critical of the regime. I will echo also what one of my bright PUP student said to respond to the lament why scholars criticize the government:(Its not the government that supports the studies of scholars. They owe the country and not those who are in power.) I will share how haunted I am by the faces of Rizalina Ilagan, Jessica Sales, Cristina Catalla, Leticia Ladlad, and other activists from UPLB who up to now are desaparecidos, having been abducted in the early years of martial law. Their eyes pierce my heart and I find myself crying when I imagined what happened and was done to them. The story of Liliosa Hilao, the heroine and martyr from Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila where I now teach, is always in my mind. And yes, the contemporary story of missing UP students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeno is always in my consciousness. The conviction of the mastermind of their abduction, General Palparan, is good but it is disturbing that the mentality that led to their disappearances still reigns in the military and police. I will tell the military and the police how impressed I was with the student leaders that spoke in the United Peoples Action last Sept. 21. Fresh, young, passionate, full of hopeall of us should thank this new generation of activists. But I also worry that what happened in the 1970s and 1980s will happen again. We cannot afford that. Edgar Jopson and Lean Alejandro would have become presidents of the Philippines if their lives were not cut short in the struggle. To my colleagues in all schools and universities, it is important that our campuses become sanctuaries where students are protected and shielded from attacks by state forces. Lets set aside our own ideological biases and our fears of being manipulated, something that made universities like Ateneo de Manila turn its back on its own activist students and professors when martial law was proclaimed. Lets all rally around the students and make sure they are not smeared, targeted, and killed. In our specific context, this is what Never forget, never again! means.
"The best they could do is to work to replace an existing government with leaders coming from their own ranks but who will not in any way disturb the status quo."

How low can they go? The other day, Magdalo Party-list Rep. Gary Alejano joined two other lawmakers in a press briefing to air their grievances against the Duterte administration. They called on the people and other groups to oppose the rumored imposition of martial law. And just to tickle the imagination of the groups they are counting on for support, Alejano declared it is no crime to be a member of the Communist Party of the Philippines. Of course, Alejanos group is enjoining the support of all those critical of the Duterte administration, calling for the end of the rule of the foul-mouthed president, and CPP is among them. Alejano was referring to RA 7636 which repealed RA 1700 otherwise known as Anti-Subversion Act. However, it was obvious Alejano was twisting the interpretation of the law just to provide lip service to one of the most unholy alliances. RA 7636 comes with a pre-condition that in order for the communist party to be legalized and recognized as a legitimate group, it should first renounce violence or armed struggle. RA 7636 does not have to be explicit on this as it clearly qualifies it does not in any manner repeal, amend or modify the provisions of the Revised Penal Code, the provision on the penalties for armed rebellion included. Presently, there are two recognized communist parties in the countrythe 1930 Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas, now led by Pedro Baguisa, and the CPP, allegedly led by its founding chairman, Jose Ma. Sison. While the PKP has long given up on armed struggle, the CPP which adheres to the principles of Marx, Lenin and the teachings of Mao Zhe Dong, is pushing for armed rebellion as the main form of its struggle. It adheres to one of Maos principles: Political power emanates from the barrel of the gun.Ergo, the CPP has not and will not abandon its armed revolution. So, how does Alejano reconcile his statement that membership in the CPP is not illegal, RA 1700 having been repealed already, with that of the fact that CPP refuses to be recognized legally has it has not given up armed struggle, and has, for the record, admitted control over its armed wing, the New Peoples Army? In fact, Alejano and his group should now stop forging a united front with the Left as even Machiavelli himself, if he were alive, could not justify their end. The objective of the Left, be it the legal or the underground, is to overhaul the social, political and economic structure of the state, and eventually reverse the social pyramid, putting the basic masses over that of the oligarchs and their minions (Something which will not happen even in the event of a CPP takeover as the basic masses will only be then represented by the intelligentsia. And if this sounds familiar, this is so because this is how a party-list operatesthe marginalized never getting to be represented by themselves). And this is what Alejanos group and all of their putschist followers cannot and will not tolerate or accommodate. The best they could do is to work to replace an existing government with leaders coming from their own ranks but who will not in any way disturb the status quo. Its about time Alejano and his group-oriented the people on the true character of every group they are trying to enjoin for support. Their end will never justify their means.
Saudi ambassador to Turkey was summoned Thursday at the Turkish Foreign Ministry to provide information on the whereabouts of Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident journalist who disappeared Tuesday after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul for some paperwork.

Ambassador Waleed A. M. Elkhereiji met with Deputy Foreign Minister Yavuz Selim Kran who asked him about the whereabouts of Khashoggi, according to Turkish media.

The Saudi journalist and commentator has not been seen again since Tuesday after his Turkish fiancee and friends told police that he has not emerged from the Saudi consulate in Istanbul where he was to get official papers for his divorce that will allow him to get re-married.

Khashoggi has fled the kingdom since September last year for fear for his life after was banned from twittering because of his critics of the policies of King Salman and his son Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman.

Saudi authorities Wednesday admitted that he entered the diplomatic compound but insisted that he left the mission. The Turkish presidency spokesperson Ibrahim Kaln however reportedly told reporters that the commentator is still inside the consulate.

Kalin also indicated that Turkish authorities have been in talks with Saudi authorities to locate Khashoggi.

Khashoggi has been living in exile in the US and has written several articles for The Washington Post.

His disappearance further exacerbates the strained ties between Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Riyadh has been irked by Turkeys support to Qatar in the ongoing sea/air and ground blockade imposed by the kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt since June last year over allegations the tiny Gulf country sponsors terrorism.
Jordan Thursday received $1 billion in form of aid package from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait to support its lame-duck economy.

Finance ministers of the three regional donors signed the agreements with Jordan on Thursday in capital Amman. The agreements totaling $1 billion will support Jordans budget, finance projects and inject funds in the central bank, a government source was quoted by The New Arab as saying.

Saudi Arabia and UAE pledged $250 million each for the Jordanian budget, while Kuwait has pledged $500 million destined to finance projects.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have both deposited $333.3 million with the central bank, while Kuwait has transferred $500 million, the source added.

The UAE will also provide guarantees worth $200 million for the World Bank, state-run news agency Petra reported.

The move comes following a previous offer of lifeline of $2.5-billion in June amid popular protests against the governments reform plan after getting a $723-million loan from the International Monetary Fund in 2016.

The protests forced the Prime Minister to resign with many fearing that they could overthrow King Abdullah II.
A UK town has withdrawn an award to Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the Dubai ruler, after residents of the small town opposed the award citing poor human rights in the Gulf country.

Newmarket, in the county of Suffolk, has been forced to withhold granting Sheikh Mohamed the status of Freeman of Newmarket.

The honor was bestowed on the Emirati Vice-President following his pledge to donate 1 million ($1.3 million) to a school in the town, The New Arab reports.

The move to backtrack came after some residents and local Labor activists raised concerns about human rights abuses in the UAE, the London-based media notes.

Giving the title of Freeman of the Town is a medieval practice which originally granted select citizens freedom from serfdom, said Ollie Bowen, a Labor activist who opposed the motion.

Other medieval practices continue in the UAE, where Sheikh Mohammed is vice-president, including stoning, flogging and the detention of those who criticize authority.

The town has written to the Emirati Vice President to thank him for his offer.

The Gulf country has come under fire from rights groups, which have criticized its treatment of migrant workers, and its role in the war in Yemen.

The UAE is jointly leading an Arab coalition in Yemen with Saudi Arabia against Houthi rebels. Over 10,000 mostly civilians have died in the conflict.
Bahrains regional close allies, namely Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait, are expected to approve an assistance package worth up to $10 billion for the Gulf country, which is grappling with a financial deficit that has slowed down its economic growth.

The assistance approval will come soon with an agreement between the countries after finance ministers of the lenders end their current visit to Amman, where they are concluding another financial aid deal for Jordan, Kuwaits Al Rai newspaper said Thursday citing an unnamed diplomatic source.

A Gulf decision at the highest levels was taken to start the execution steps for a program to support the financial stability of Bahrain, the diplomatic source was quoted as saying.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait in June announced their support to Bahrain, which has been under pressure because of a two-year old deficit budget.

The deficit was equivalent to 14 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2017. Public debt was 90 per cent of the DGP and is expected to increase to 100 per cent next year according to the Financial Times.

The support package has been tied up to reforms expected from the small monarchy. The reforms according to sources in the Gulf country include the imposition of value-added tax and changes to the pension system.

The 10-billion package accounts for about a quarter of Bahrains annual GDP and 28 percent of public debt, and covers over two years of state budget deficits according to International Monetary Fund projections.

As it faces hardship, authorities have been raising the prices of fuel and electricity, which were previously sponsored by the government.
Leave Parliament in Kutaisi

By Levan Khutsishvili

On October 3, civil society in Kutaisi started a social campaign and announcing the demonstrations to protest the initiative of Georgian government about moving the parliament from Kutaisi back to Tbilisi. Citizens of Kutaisi involved in campaign Leave Parliament in Kutaisi say that if the legislative body is moved from Kutaisi, the city will lose its status and a chance of future development.The government and the parliamentary majority supports the initiative. Once it's approved, the parliament building in Kutaisi will be handed to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, where several subunits of ministry, including Police Academy and Information Center  112 will be located.As politicians from the ruling Georgian Dream think, parliament has not positively influenced the economic condition of residents of Kutaisi and besides, it weakens the legislative body."In his time, Mikheil Saakashvili decided to move parliament in Kutaisi in order to weaken the parliament. We think about strengthening the parliament, so it is a logical decision to have government and the parliament in one city. You cannot find a precedent when these two branches of government are scattered in different cities, which in practice creates problems in many ways," said Mamuka Mdinaradze, head of the faction Georgian Dream.Majoritarian MP of Kutaisi Genadi Margvelashvili does not agree with the decision of the government and thinks that the legislative body should stay in Kutaisi, adding the city deserves more attention."I do not agree with the transfer of the parliament principally, but I remain as a member of the team. Kutaisi deserves more attention and hopefully, the city will get an alternative project. If the parliament will move, the population needs another alternative project," said Margvelashvili.Politicians from opposition parties believe that the initiative will burden economic conditions of residents that have income because of the parliament. The local civil society is against the initiative as well. Society Kutaiseli protested the amendment on September 24 and is about to start demonstrations.
via @blaskey_s

Last month, the mayor of Hallandale Beach, Keith London, bizarrely accused fellow commissioner Anabelle Lima-Taub of profiting from bleaching her sphincter, causing public outrage and series of #MeToo posts on social media. Now, Lima-Taub is the one under fire for apparently comparing the mayor to Adolf Hitler during Wednesday nights regularly scheduled commission meeting.

Both the mayor and Lima-Taub are Jewish, so did the commissioner really compare the mayor to Hitler? The vice mayor says yes. She and the mayor are offended. Lima-Taub says absolutely not.

Whatever the interpretation, the commissioner did throw out the names Hitler and Fidel Castro in her comments focused on London. Heres what happened.

The first item on the Wednesday night agenda was a proclamation, sponsored by London, to make October 2018 Domestic Violence Awareness month in Hallandale Beach. During her opening comments, Lima-Taub called London the biggest, most corrupt criminal to ever grace the city and said the mayors domestic violence proclamation a was a joke before making the following statement:

A man who sat here a month ago and dared to talk about my private parts, sponsoring a proclamation for domestic violence. Wow. Thats like Hitler having a proclamation for Jews. Or Fidel Castro having freedom day for Cubans.





Moments later, Vice Mayor Michele Lazarow and Commissioner Mike Butler got up from the dais. That meant the commission no longer had a quorum and the meeting had to halt until they returned. Lazarow later called the commissioners comments disgusting and demanded a public apology.

I know you dont like the mayor, and I know that he has made inappropriate comments and remarks for which he has apologized. As a Jew, to listen to you sit here and compare anyone to Hitler makes me sick to my stomach, Lazarow said toward the end of the meeting.There was one Hitler. Only one. Hitler murdered millions of innocent people. Murdered millions of innocent people. No one is like Hitler. There is one Hitler. The worst in our society are not like Hitler.

More here.
In 1997, MUDEC moves in the south of Luxembourg to the 15th century castle of Differdange.

Advancing global knowledge The experience of two world wars and the dramatic social upheaval in the 1960s convinced many that global peace and understanding should be advanced through study abroad. Charles Ray Wilson, Provost of Miami University, was committed to expanding the global outlook of Miami and offering the students greater international opportunities. The idea for Miami's European Center was conceived by Wilson and a small group of committed administrators and faculty including: Vice President John E. Dolibois, Vice President Robert F. Etheridge and professors Warren L. Mason, Jacques Breitenbucher, Howell C. Lloyd, Marcy S. Powell, Dwight L. Smith and Del Snider. These Miamians had experienced the joy and enrichment of living and studying abroad and wanted to create a similar opportunity for Miami students.

Luxembourg's location gives students a unique multicultural experience.

As a weeklong celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Miami University John E. Dolibois European Center begins, its interesting to note that the center might have been located in another country.

In 1968, Miami was considering launching its international program in different locations like Japan, Switzerland, France, and Austria, but it was alumnus John Dolibois who made the case for his homeland.

He was the U.S. Ambassador to Luxembourg. Upon his return to Miami to serve as alumni secretary and later vice president, he touted Luxembourgs unique location, culture and size, which give students accelerated exposure to foreign societies and languages.

Luxembourg is a European crossroads

It is a small country landlocked by its larger neighbors, making it a sort of European crossroads thats rich in culture and diversity. Luxembourgers speak a variety of languages, including Luxembourgish, French, German and English, with the country itself allowing easy travel to Belgium, France and Germany.

Almost without exception, students view their experience in Luxembourg to be among the most formidable and outstanding of all their years in college. In fact, they said, After Luxembourg, youll never be the same again.

Initially called the European Center, the center moved to Luxembourg City in 1982. In 1988, Miami Universitys board of trustees voted to change the name of the center to its current name, the Miami University John E. Dolibois European Center (MUDEC). Learn more about its history in an online timeline.

Miami ranks No. 3 for ungergraduate participation in study abroad programs.

Miami one of top universities for study abroad participation

Much of Miamis success with study abroad programs can be attributed to the strong precedent put in place at the Luxembourg center. Fifty years since its inception, more than 11,500 Miami students explored the countrys multilingual and multicultural society.

Miami University continues to be one of the top universities in the nation for the number and percentage of students who earn credit abroad. Learn more about study abroad opportunities at Miami.

Among public, doctoral institutions, Miami ranks No. 3 for undergraduate participation in study abroad at 46.3 percent.

Miami is No. 25 among all U.S. institutions for the total number of students who studied abroad in the 2015-2016 academic year, per the Open Doors 2017 report, released Nov. 13 by the Institute of International Education.

More than 700 MUDEC alumni will commemorate the golden anniversary with a week of activities at the center Oct. 7-12.

Looking to the future

Dean Thierry Leterre wants to establish a Miami University American Cultural Center in Luxembourg, something lacking in the region.

"I thought that this would not only be a great project in itself, but could also be an incomparable teaching and immersion opportunity for our students, he said. "The idea is that the Miami University American Cultural Center should be mainly run by students, who would manage the budget, extend invitations, build projects, offer conversational classes in English, and more. I believe the students' creativity will take us to the next step."
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 []
You have been crying for something different on your television screens and your cries have been heard. The upcoming Kenyan production  Famous  looks like it will keep you glued to your television screens.

Famous is the brainchild of highly acclaimed Kenyan music video director Enos Olik.

According to Olik, who is nominated for the upcoming Afrimma Awards 2018 as the Best Video Director in Africa, Famous is a drama series centred around the music industry scene.

The musical show is driven by the story of a young girl named Nyota, played by actress Makena Kahuha, who is trying to make it in the music industry in Kenya despite her background and challenges.

Enos Olik, in addition to being the creator, is the director of the upcoming show.

He released the first official trailer of Famous on his Instagram on Thursday saying to expect its premiere sometime next month.

Always wanted to do a drama tv series centred around the music industry scene..And finally got the chance to direct and create one, presenting to you #famous tv series driven by the story of a young girl Nyota trying to make it in the music industry in Kenya despite her background and challenges.. Coming soon to a tv station near you from next month??.. Keep it locked, he wrote.

Besides directing some of the biggest music videos in Kenya, Enos Olik through his Enos Olik Productions(EOP), has previously produced for The Search talent show and worked as a cinematographer for the Oscar hopeful Kenyan film Supa Modo.

Check out the trailer for Famous below.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga will not be throwing his weight behind embattled Migori Governor Okoth Obado in the alleged murder of Sharon Otieno.

According to the ODM leader, he has received many calls to stand with Obado, who is facing murder charges.

Raila, however, says justice should take its course and Obado should prove his innocence.

So far all indicators are pointing at Obado, let him prove his innocence in court, Raila said.

The NASA leader further noted that the murder of a pregnant woman and her unborn child in the Luo culture is a bad omen and an act of witchcraft.

It was unfortunate that a very young woman and her angel were murdered brutally. If the killers didnt need the child or the mother they should have spared their lives, said Raila Odinga.

The former Prime Minister was speaking at Awendo bus park in Migori during a two-day campaign for ODM Senator candidate Ochillo Ayacko.

Raila also supported the calls for a referendum to change the constitution noting that the time has come.

While speaking in Rongo, he said that the change was inevitable.

No one can stop an idea whose time has come.
The requested page is currently unavailable on this server.

Back to [RTHK News Homepage]
Russian spies have been accused of involvement in a series of cyber-plots across the globe, leading the United States to level charges against seven agents.

Russia's ambassador to the Netherlands was summoned to underline that message, she said.

LONDON-The British government has accused Russian military intelligence of being behind four cyber attacks aimed at spreading confusion and disinformation.

The men with a Russian embassy official at Schiphol.

Russia's military spy service has been behind a wave of massive cyber attacks in the recent years, with targets ranging from the global chemical weapons watchdog group to the probe into the downing of a Malaysian Airlines plane over Ukraine, officials said Thursday.

Dutch and British officials have named four Russians they say are agents in a GRU intelligence cyber warfare team.

While not directly related to the ongoing investigation into suspected Russian interference in the 2016 USA presidential election, John Demers, Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ's national security division, said during a press conference Thursday that three of the named defendants were previously charged in connection with that probe.

The Dutch government said the Russians were later found with a auto full of electronic equipment in the vehicle park of a hotel close to the OPCW building.

"We want the hundreds of victims of these Russian hackers to know that we will do everything we can to hold these criminals accountable for their crimes", said Scott Brady, US Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, where the grand jury indicted the Russians.

Commentators say the revelations suggest that Russian spies have been surprisingly amateur in their operations - or that Moscow is becoming increasingly brazen in stepping up a hybrid cyber war on the West.

The Russian embassy in London said the UK's statement was "reckless" and part of an "anti-Russian campaign by the United Kingdom government". The indictment could make it hard for them to travel to other countries.

The seven were charged with computer hacking, wire fraud, identity theft and money laundering.

"They try to undermine and interfere in elections in other countries; they are even prepared to damage Russian companies and Russian citizens", adding the attacks had caused millions of British pounds in damage to national economies.

What were the suspects doing in the Netherlands?

After their hacking attempt was disrupted, the four Russian intelligence officers were immediately expelled from the Netherlands, Dutch Defense Minister Ank Bijleveld said.

At the presentation, Major General Eichelsheim showed the antennae, laptops and other equipment he said the men meant to use to breach the OPCW's wifi network.

The laptop revealed that the agents had also made searches for the OPCW Spiez laboratory in Switzerland - which the Swiss last month said had been targeted. The four men were found to have rented a vehicle and parked it outside a hotel near the building in the Hague.

Dutch authorities released the Russian diplomatic passports of the four men identifying them as Oleg Sotnikov, Alexei Morenets, Alexei Minin and Yevgeny Serebryakov. They are all GRU officers.

"This attempt to access the secure systems of an worldwide organisation working to rid the world of chemical weapons, demonstrates the GRU's disregard for the global values and rules that keep us safe", they said.

The OPCW was at the time probing the nerve agent poisoning of Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal in Britain and an alleged chemical attack on the Syrian town of Douma by the Moscow-backed regime in Damascus.

The allegations by the British came as Dutch officials claimed at a news conference that the GRU tried to hack the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in April before authorities disrupted it.

It cites attacks on the World Anti-Doping Agency, Ukrainian transport systems, the 2016 USA presidential race and others as very likely the work of the GRU.

What was on their computer?

Officials said the men were expelled from the country following the alleged cyber attack.

Moscow has denied responsibility in the Skripal attack and said the two accused were merely tourists visiting Britain. Dutch-led investigators concluded that the plane was downed by a missile belonging to a Russian military unit. Accusations against Russian Federation "know no limits", said Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov.

It is different to the former KGB (now known as the SVR and FSB) as it conducts undercover military operations and collects intelligence operations around the globe.
He accused Beijing of "reckless harassment" in an incident on Sunday in which a Chinese naval vessel almost collided with a United States destroyer near the Spratly islands.

In a blatant attempt to invert the script on election "meddling" and interference, Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday accused the Chinese government of seeking to undermine US democracy and charged, without evidence, that Beijing is acting malevolently because "China wants a different American president".

"It is very ridiculous for the USA side to stigmatize its normal exchanges and cooperation with China as China interfering in its internal affairs and elections", the statement said, instead accusing Washington of infringing on the sovereignty of other nations.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement that Pence in his speech had made "unwarranted accusations. and slandered China by claiming that China meddles in United States internal affairs and elections".

Casting aside Pence's criticism of China's allegedly malicious influence across the globe, Beijing emphasized it views itself as one of the guarantors of "world peace" and a "defender of global order".

While Pence declared that behavior of Russian Federation "pales in comparison to what China is doing across this country", he only cited vague internal declarations by USA intelligence agencies and then pointed to an advertisement, purchased by the state-run China Daily newspaper, that was placed in the Des Moines Register that criticized the Trump administration's trade war tactics.

But Pence said: "As a senior career member of our intelligence community told me just this week, what the Russians are doing pales in comparison to what China is doing across this country".

China's Defence Ministry said a Chinese naval ship had been sent to warn the USA vessel to leave and that Beijing had irrefutable sovereignty in the area.

Neither Trump nor Pence provided hard evidence of Chinese meddling. Nor has any official said election infrastructure has been targeted by China or any other foreign adversary, though several have stressed that a number of foreign actors have the will and the capability to engage in election interference.

"Regrettably, we found that China has been attempting to interfere in our upcoming 2018 election", Trump said. The world's two largest economies have been in an open trade war that shows no signs of slowing down.

Daniel Russel, Washington's top diplomat for East Asia until a year ago, said there was a lot to dislike about China's behaviour.

"The United States Navy will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever global law allows and our national interests demand".

Pence's speech comes amid rumors that the US military is proposing a "major show of force" near China's territorial waters in November - "several missions" over the course of a week to demonstrate American naval and air superiority within striking distance of mainland China.

The vice president, a favourite of conservative US Christians, also criticised China on human rights, voicing disappointment that rising prosperity has not led to reforms.

China "has taken a sharp U-turn toward control and oppression", Pence said.
China angrily denounced on Friday renewed USA allegations that it was interfering in upcoming American midterm elections.

"Worst of all, China has initiated an unprecedented effort to influence American public opinion, the 2018 elections, and the environment leading into the 2020 presidential election".

"There can be no doubt, " he said, "China is meddling in America's democracy".

A Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said Beijing objected to Pence's "groundless" allegations and urged the U.S.to stop hurting ties between the two countries.

"This is nothing but speaking on hearsay evidence, confusing right and wrong and creating something out of thin air", Hua said in a strongly worded statement issued early Friday in Beijing. Some tweak. USMCA is the first step in U.S. President Donald Trump's plan to promote a new World Economic Order favouring America's market-oriented allies and disfavouring bad actors, chief among them China.

One of the most pressing concerns is Beijing's control over the supply of critical technologies and materials, which could pose a significant risk to U.S. industries that are vital to national security, the report said.

"The worldwide community has already known fully well who wantonly infringes upon others' sovereignty, interferes in others' internal affairs and undermines others' interests". A recent intelligence report said China uses joint ventures to try to acquire technical know-how, seeks partnerships with USA government labs to learn about specific technology and information about running such facilities, and uses front companies to hide the hand of the Chinese government and acquire technology under US export controls.

The US vice-president called out China's "culture of censorship" to enforce party dogma at home and overseas, and named the Chinese Students and Scholars Association, which has organisations at 150 American campuses, as an attempt to enforce the Communist Party's political line over Chinese students overseas.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi dismissed Trump's claim at the United Nations General Assembly last week that China was meddling in the US midterm elections, calling the allegation " unwarranted".

Hoo said Beijing may bide its time and play defensively until after U.S. elections in November before determining its next move.

Pence made clear that the United States still adhered to its four-decade policy of recognizing only Beijing but added to applause: "Let me also say that Taiwan's embrace of democracy shows a better path for all the Chinese people".

Despite that, Pence said: 'As a senior career member of our intelligence community recently told me, what the Russians are doing pales in comparison to what China is doing across this country'. "Now, China wants to turn these voters against our administration".

The unusually expansive and aggressive criticism of Beijing by a senior U.S. official indicated that Washington could be preparing to take a more confrontational approach with China on issues beyond just the trade dispute.

Pence's speech at the Hudson Institute think tank in Washington marked a sharpened US approach toward China that goes beyond the bitter trade war between the world's two biggest economies and includes disputes such as cyber activities, Taiwan, freedom of the seas and human rights.

"Beijing is employing a whole-of-government approach, using political, economic and military tools, as well as propaganda, to advance its influence and benefit its interests in the United States", Pence said. But "my understanding is that we are not close to launching a search product in China, and whether we eventually could or would remains unclear", he said.

Pence's speech is the latest sign of deteriorating ties between the USA and China, as the two nuclear powers tussle over everything from trade to Taiwan and the South China Sea.

They also said it was the first time a senior US official had delivered such a "broadside" against China on an array of issues.

Pence also assailed China over its actions in the South China Sea, where the US has criticized the Chinese government for building military bases on reclaimed reefs.

The vice president, a favourite of conservative US Christians, also criticised China on human rights, voicing disappointment that rising prosperity has not led to reforms.
Six other law enforcement officers were shot, as was a 20-year-old who was in the home.

Frederick Hopkins lost his law license in the 1980s for mishandling money and faced several minor criminal charges in recent years, including disorderly conduct in 2014.

WMBF reports Hopkins sustained a head injury during the police standoff and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.

A police escort led the way Wednesday as his body was taken from the hospital.

A source with the Florence County Sheriff's Office told ABC News on Thursday that the detained suspect is Fred Hopkins, who was at the home where the shooting happened in Vintage Place, an upscale suburban neighborhood in the city of Florence, about 80 miles east of Columbia. Three Florence County deputies and four Florence City Police officers were wounded.

The suspect then shot four Florence city police officers, one fatally, as officers from all around the area swarmed in to help, Florence Police Chief Allen Heidler said.

"The Florence Police Chief said that Officer Carraway, a 30-year veteran of the department, was the bravest police officer he had ever known".

Heidler said the sheriff's office was the lead agency on the call outside the city limits and his officers arrived as backup. More than a month and a half later, Hopkins had paid only $4,600, spurring a contempt of court finding and a June 1984 order that he be jailed for six months or until he complied with the order. Other posts from 2016 show images of rifles set up on what looks like a range, and say he was the "South Carolina 3-Gun Silhouette Champion for 2011".

"I have been shooting competitively since 1984 and lovin' it".

According to a post on Florence County Emergency Management's Facebook page around 6 p.m., "there is an active shooter incident in progress at this time".

Chief Kirby said the suspect barricaded himself inside a house with children.

Authorities ordered a bullet-resistant rescue vehicle to the scene in order to evacuate officers who had been shot.

Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott - the sheriff leading the investigation - said the focus is on taking care of those who have been shot and their families.

He added, "Today will mark a very horrific day in the annals of the Florence police department".

"He had an advantage and the officers couldn't get to the ones that were down", Boone said.

Ordinarily, investigations of shootings involving SC law enforcement officers are handled by the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED). "The selfless acts of bravery from the men and women in law enforcement is real, just like the power of prayer is real", Governor Henry McMaster said on Twitter.
A Seoul court sentenced former President Lee Myung-bak to 15 years in prison after finding him guilty on charges of embezzlement and bribery, Friday. It said Lee committed those crimes before and during his presidency, from 2008 to 2013.

His successor Park Geun-hye was sentenced to 25 years prison in August in a separate corruption scandal, after being ousted from office last year following months of street protests.

The former South Korean leader was indicted in April on 16 charges that included bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power. She is serving 33 years in prison.

He was further accused of channeling assets worth 35 billion won to an illegal slush fund.

"Such actions from the president, the head of state and the leader of the executive branch, can be severely condemned as it does not stop at violating the fairness and integrity of the presidential office, but undermines trust in the entire public office", said judge Chung Kye-sun.

Earlier, prosecutors demanded a 20-year sentence for Lee, who was also found guilty of having accepted a payment of $5.85m from Samsung Electronics for a USA lawsuit involving DAS. His lawyer said the broadcast would hurt South Korea's global image and undermine national unity, according to the Yonhap news agency.

Prosecutors had asked for a 20-year sentence and a fine of over 13 million dollars.

He started at Hyundai Group in the mid-1960s and led the company's rapid rise at a time when South Korea's economy grew explosively from the rubble of the 1950-53 Korean War. He was dubbed a "salaryman legend" or a "bulldozer", and his success story was chronicled in popular TV dramas. But his five-year term was eventually marred by a global financial meltdown, massive street protests over the resumption of US beef imports and rising military animosities with North Korea.

After the elder Park was gunned down by his spy chief, ex-military generals Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo ruled successively.

Ironically, South Korea scores relatively well on global rankings for bribery at lower levels of society, with police and teachers generally not taking backhanders, in contrast to some other Asian countries, said Kim Geo-sung, a former head of anti-corruption watchdog Transparency worldwide.
"As a senior career member of our intelligence community recently told me: What the Russians are doing pales in comparison to what China is doing across this country", Pence was to say.

Pence called on one firm in particular to stop cooperating with China.

Pence also accused Beijing of showing its "aggression" when a Chinese navy vessel recently sailed in the dispute-ridden South China Sea near the USS Decatur destroyer, which according to U.S. officials had to make a quick detour to avoid collision.

Pence followed that up, saying intelligence assessments found that China is targeting USA state and local governments as well as officials to exploit any divisions between federal and local levels on policy.

"To put it bluntly, President Trump's leadership is working, and China wants a different American president", he said.

"China's aggression was on display this week", he said, referring to a unsafe encounter between the People's Liberation Army Navy destroyer Lanzhou and the United States destroyer USS Decatur in the hotly-contested South China Sea Sunday.

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told the Washington Post this week there was no indication of any foreign effort to disrupt election infrastructure but added that "we know they (China) have the capability and the will".

China "has taken a sharp U-turn toward control and oppression", Pence said.

He made it clear that he believed China was aiming at unseating President Trump in response to his policies on trade.

The vice president said that Chinese security agencies have masterminded "the wholesale theft of American technology" and that Beijing works to steal U.S. intellectual property, leading to a "new consensus" among USA businesses about investing there.

He also urged Google (GOOGL.O) to end development of its "Dragonfly" app that would make it easier to track internet searches and thus strengthen the Chinese Communist Party's censorship efforts. The vice president cited USA intelligence agencies but offered little evidence to back up his claims. Apple Inc AAPL.O and Amazon AMZN.O denied the report.

Pence also slammed China's militarization of contested areas in the South and East China Sea, its practice of "debt diplomacy" in developing countries, and its efforts to convince other nations to sever ties with Taiwan.

He warned Beijing that the U.S. "will not be intimidated" and "will not stand down". "A Chinese naval vessel came within 45 yards of the USS Decatur as it conducted freedom-of-navigation operations in the South China Sea, forcing our ship to quickly manoeuvre to avoid collision".

She said China was a "builder of world peace" with no interest in meddling in U.S. elections. China considers the self-ruled island a wayward province.

Mr Pence also joined other United States officials in denouncing Beijing's crackdown on minority Uighur Muslims in the Xinjiang region.

China has said Xinjiang faces a serious threat from Islamist militants and separatists who plot attacks and stir up tensions.
In a joint statement, USA and Canada said USMCA would "result in freer markets, fairer trade and robust economic growth in our region".

The agreement reached Sunday shows a give-and-take between the two countries: It gives USA farmers slightly greater access to the Canadian dairy market, but provides Canada protection if Trump goes ahead with plans to impose tariffs on cars and auto parts imported into the U.S.

The new deal, dubbed the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, is expected to be signed by the leaders of the three member countries - US President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto - in November. According to the U.S. Trade Representative, the agreement "address [es] unfair currency practices by requiring high-standard commitments to refrain from competitive devaluations and targeting exchange rates, while significantly increasing transparency and providing mechanisms for accountability".

That "representative" was Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland - the senior cabinet minister leading Canada's trade delegation to rescue NAFTA from a president who won the White House in part by denouncing the agreement as one of the worst deals ever made. U.S. Rep. Elise M. Stefanik, R-Willsboro, praised negotiators from both nations for coming up with a plan to open Canadian markets to U.S. producers.

The agreement, reached on Sunday night, protects Canada's automotive industry from potentially devastating USA tariffs, but includes no assurance that Washington will lift punitive measures it imposed on Canadian and Mexican steel and aluminum in June. "This new agreement is significant, as it will keep our manufacturing supply chains strong throughout North America".

The president has adopted an "America First" policy and launched a trade war against China, as well as imposed tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from Mexico and Canada. And with that, after almost 14 months of tense negotiations, we now have a newly named regional trade agreement.

Those remarks set the stage for a bitter struggle over trade, with Trump threatening to drop Canada from the regional trade pact altogether if it didn't yield to key USA demands. Canadians were looking for a better deal, and instead, we seem to be getting a new name, but a worse deal. "Without tariffs, we wouldn't be talking about a deal". The portion of it most pertinent to dairy farmers in Northern New York, though, look very good.

"In the next few weeks, Canadians are expecting transparency from the Liberal government". Meanwhile, Canada and Mexico tend to be more focused on consumer protections.

In a copy of the letter Trump sent to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and to the President of the Senate, Trump said he meant to initiate trade negotiations with both countries, and enter the agreement by the end of November 2018, saying that "dramatic progress" has been made related to several areas.

Former prime minister Brian Mulroney, shown here earlier this year on Capitol Hill in Washington where he was telling the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about the benefits of NAFTA.

"We didn't ask to reopen NAFTA". That's why, from day one, we have offered our full support to our federal partner throughout the USMCA negotiation process to make sure a deal got done. "But based on reports, I am pleased that the deal includes a provision I pushed for to eliminate an unfair milk pricing system that has hurt NY dairy farmers' ability to export to Canada".

Trump has already imposed tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel, citing national security, and is threatening similar punitive measures against auto exports.

Other key aspects include lengthening the patents on biologic pharmaceuticals by two years to 10 years from eight, and increasing the amount Canadians can spend online at US retailers without paying duty to $150 from $20.
"The Dutch defense minister's statement looks like a populist attempt to butt into a hot news agenda against the backdrop of a series of wanton accusations about Russian hacking attacks and chemical weapons use".

The Russians set up in the Marriott Hotel next door to the OPCW and took photos, while parking the auto at the hotel with the boot facing the OPCW, he said.

Four of the names in the indictment match those given by Dutch authorities in connection with an alleged GRU cyberoperation against the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, an worldwide chemical weapons watchdog organization based in the Netherlands.

The targets allegedly included a small UK TV station, the US Democratic National Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), as well as a Bad Rabbit ransomware attack which swept across Russia and Europe in October past year, affecting a Ukranian metro line, Odessa airport, a Russian central bank and two Russian media outlets.

The Dutch and British authorities released CCTV images of the four men arriving at Schipol Airport as well photographs of their passports.

The "close access" hacking attempt, just a month after the Salisbury nerve agent attack, followed an earlier failed "spearfishing attack" on the OPCW headquarters. On April 13, these men were discovered by Dutch authorities and sent back to Russian Federation.

He said the hackers were planning to travel on to the OPCW-certified laboratory in Spiez near Berne in Switzerland, where the Novichok nerve agent used in March's attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the British city of Salisbury was identified.

British authorities confirmed that the same men had attempted to launch cyberattacks against the investigation into the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

He said the Russians in the Netherlands had multiple telephones, took hotel room rubbish - including empty cans of Heineken and Aldi orange juice - with them and had $20,000 and 20,000 in cash.

On Thursday, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Russian ambassador and condemned Russia's "unacceptable" behavior with these attacks. "Putin's corrupt greed has turned the GRU into an amateurish bunch of jokers".

British Prime Minister Theresa May said in a statement that the OPCW hack "demonstrates the GRU's disregard for the global values and rules that keep us all safe".

The indictment alleges that the seven defendants, all of whom are members of Russia's military intelligence agency, sought to sow disinformation and create an influence campaign as retaliation for the exposure of a Russian state-sponsored athlete doping program.

Through the use of spearphishing emails, stolen credentials and other cyberintrusions, a group calling itself the "Fancy Bears' Hack Team" publicized medical information and drug testing results of athletes and peddled a false narrative that certain athletes were using performance-enhancing drugs, prosecutors alleged Thursday.

Those targeted include the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), transport systems in Ukraine and a TV station in the UK.

October 2017: A Bad Rabbit malware cyber attack encrypted data on computers across Russian Federation and Ukraine and held it to bitcoin ransom. The International Paralympic Committee imposed a blanket ban on Russian athletes in its 2016 games.

The charges from the United States come as the UK and Australia blamed the Russian GRU for a number of recent global cyber attacks. It has become a tradition for such claims to lack any evidence.

At the end of July, the FBI launches an investigation into whether or not the Russian government ordered the DNC hack.
Click the photo to write a caption and have a chance to win a free subscription to the Norfolk Daily News.


Morocco and Russia will sign shortly an agreement on civil nuclear energy. The deal would be the first of its kind to be sealed between the two countries.

The content of this agreement, proposed by the Russian side, has not yet been specified.

The announcement of this project was made Thursday in Rabat by a Russian official on the sidelines of the meeting of the joint Moroccan-Russian commission on economic, scientific and technical cooperation.

Convened under the chairmanship of Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita and Russian Minister of Agriculture Dimitry Patrushev, the joint commission stressed the importance of the strategic Moroccan-Russian partnership, and agreed to bolster bilateral investment and diversify cooperation between the two countries in several key economic sectors.

During his visit to Rabat, Dimitry Patrushev reviewed with his Moroccan peer Aziz Akhannouch ways of boosting cooperation in the fields of agriculture and fisheries.

Talks also covered the evolution of Moroccan wheat market, the implementation of the cooperation accords signed by the two countries and the export to Russia of several Moroccan agricultural products including vegetables, fruits and citrus fruits.

The Russian Agriculture Minister reiterated his countrys willingness to further strengthen its cooperation and partnership with Morocco, which cover, besides agriculture, the sectors of energy, tourism and industry.

Between January and July 2018, bilateral trade totaled $900 million, he said, assuring that his country will make every effort to further increase the volume of trade with Morocco.

He said that several draft cooperation agreements in the field of transportation and telecommunication are being finalized.

The Russian official also highlighted Moroccos economic assets, and its exceptional openness onto the African continent, saying these are all reasons that explain the interest shown by Russian investors in fostering partnership with the Kingdom.
The latest report of the UN Secretary-General to the Security Council on the Sahara issue has demystified, once and for all, the propaganda nurtured for years by the Polisario and its mentor, Algeria, on the so-called existence of liberated territories East of the defense wall in the Moroccan Sahara.

The report, presented to the Security Council Thursday, confirmed Moroccos position on the legal and historical status of this integral part of the Moroccan Sahara.

The UN Chief informed the Security Council members that the Polisario told his Personal Envoy Horst Kohler during his visit to the region last June that it withdrew permanently from the Guergarate buffer zone and that it has committed to move no structure to the east of the defense wall.

The forced flip-flopping of the separatists is the result of the Security Councils injunctions as expressed in resolution 2414 of last April. In this resolution, the Security Council had expressed concern with the presence of the Polisario Front in the buffer strip in Guerguerat and called for its immediate withdrawal. It also urged the front to refrain from any such destabilizing actions in Guergarate, including the relocation of administrative functions to this area.

The Security Councils firm resolution came following a letter that King Mohammed VI had addressed to the UN Chief on 30 March 2018 on the Polisarios provocative actions, seeking to change the status quo on the ground. The Royal Letter had warned that if these provocations were to continue, Morocco would act on its own to preserve the status of the area. The wording of the resolution shows that the royal message has been heeded.

And the separatists commitment to withdraw from the buffer zone deflates their claims that they were controlling a liberated area to the east of the defense apparatus.
I know that my tone was sharp, and I said a few things I should not have said. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Brett Kavanaugh has heard the complaints about his poor judicial temperament and on Thursday, the judge who last week said sexual-assault allegations against him were a conspiracy launched by Donald Trumps enemies attempted a mea culpa.

I was very emotional last Thursday, more so than I have ever been. I might have been too emotional at times. I know that my tone was sharp, and I said a few things I should not have said, he wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed Thursday. He went on to say that his emotions were justified:

My hearing testimony was forceful and passionate. That is because I forcefully and passionately denied the allegation against me. At times, my testimonyboth in my opening statement and in response to questionsreflected my overwhelming frustration at being wrongly accused, without corroboration, of horrible conduct completely contrary to my record and character. My statement and answers also reflected my deep distress at the unfairness of how this allegation has been handled.

One problem with this argument: Kavanaughs opening statement was prepared beforehand, not spouted off in a moment of raw emotion. And it was in that opening statement that he blamed pro-Clinton partisans for carrying out an orchestrated political hit on him. Still, Kavanaugh promises in the op-ed, if confirmed to the Supreme Court he will keep an open mind in every case and always strive to preserve the Constitution of the United States and the American rule of law.

The op-ed comes after mounting criticism of Kavanaughs performance last Thursday. Nearly 1,000 law professors signed a letter this week that said he displayed a lack of judicial temperament that would be disqualifying for any court, and certainly for elevation to the highest court of this land.

John Paul Stevens, who served on the Supreme Court from 1975 until 2010, also criticized Kavanaughs performance. I thought (Kavanaugh) had the qualifications for the Supreme Court and should he be selected, Stevens said in Boca Raton, according to the Palm Beach Post. Ive changed my views for reasons that have no relationship to his intellectual ability  I feel his performance in the hearings ultimately changed my mind.

If any senators who support Kavanaugh feel the same, they havent said so out loud. And with a confirmation vote coming as soon as this weekend, theyre running out of time to change their minds.
The Utah Senator is one of many lawmakers to be confronted by protesters this week. Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Utah senator Orrin Hatch, like many of his colleagues in the past two weeks, was confronted by a cadre of antiBrett Kavanaugh protesters inside the Hart Senate Office Building on Thursday. But unlike his colleagues, who mostly ignored the protesters and tried to get on with their elevator rides, Hatch snapped back.

When one protester asked, Why arent you brave enough to talk to us? Hatch, hiding behind his security detail, waved her away.

Dont you wave your hand at me, the woman said. I wave my hand at you.

When you grow up Ill be glad to talk, Hatch said. Thats when the women went off.

WATCH: @senorrinhatch tells a group of women and survivors to grow up as he laughs in their faces. #BelieveSurvivors pic.twitter.com/ZMe4Rslret  #VOTEPROCHOICE (@VoteChoice) October 4, 2018

I was like, How dare you talk to a woman like this? one of the protestors told the Washington Post after the confrontation. When I grow up? No woman deserves to be talked to like that.

A spokesperson for Hatch defended his boss, who is the actual victim here. In the last two weeks, Senator Hatch has had his private information shared online by a Democrat staffer during a hearing, putting him and his family in danger, Matt Whitlock said in a statement. He has been screamed at and harassed by the very same protestors who tried to prevent confirmation hearings from even happening. Republicans have received every kind of death threat imaginable  all for supporting Judge Brett Kavanaugh. But Senator Hatch will not be intimidated.
Local Problems, Global Tech Bloodstreams drones deliver medical supplies to rural hospitals. The company hopes to connect hospitals and blood banks to solve Indias blood-waste problem. Photo: Courtesy of Bloodstream

Send a WhatsApp message to a group of Indian 20-somethings and you might just get a bag of blood in return.

Its a lot less sketchy than it sounds.

India has a blood-waste problem, and recent college grads Anshul Sharma, Arunabha Bhattacharya, and Rishabh Gupta aim to fix it with a fleet of shiny new drones, a few messaging apps, and some ice packs.

Despite the fact that the country has been facing a deadly blood shortage for years, over half a million units of usable blood are discarded by blood banks and hospitals each year, according to a 2017 report by the Times of India. The issue? Inefficiency.

India lacks a centralized blood-sharing network, leaving most treatment centers and blood banks essentially on their own when it comes to procuring enough blood to keep their patients alive. If, say, a blood bank in Vidarbha has an influx of donations while a bank in Madhya Pradesh has run dry, its unlikely that the latter bank would even be aware of its neighbors surplus, much less initiate a transfer. Though theres ostensibly an online system dedicated to tracking each banks inventory, its rarely used.

Med-tech start-up Bloodstream aims to pick up the slack. Armed with a fleet of custom-made drones designed to transport fragile medical cargo and a partnership with Indias Life Line Blood Bank, the company aims to revolutionize the health-supply chain and bring much-needed medical resources to hard-to-access rural areas, starting with blood. Sharma, who is CEO of the company and its parent company Air Aid, recently told the Times of India that Bloodstream had already made successful deliveries to Karnataka, West Bengal, and Nepal.

It works like this: Hospitals in need of blood, vaccines, or other basic medicines reach out to Bloodstream via SMS, WhatsApp, or over the phone to indicate that theyre running low. The request is then sent to the nearest Bloodstream drone stationed at a blood bank with a surplus of that particular item. The blood is placed inside a specially designed lightweight carrying container inside the drone, along with a gel ice pack to keep it from coagulating or otherwise getting ruined. The drone then flies to the rural area at a speed of around 68 miles per hour. (The Indian government and air-traffic control mandate a specific flying altitude and speed for drone-delivery companies like Bloodstream.) A couple of minutes before the drone reaches its destination, the hospital workers are notified that a drop-off is imminent so they can step outside to grab their delivery. The drone then drops the package (which has a rather adorable mini-parachute attached to ensure a safe landing) in a designated seven-by-seven-meter delivery zone and then flies off to continue along its route.

All in all, its a particularly impressive feat, especially given that any combination of the words blood and drones would have seemed like a particularly hack bout of science fiction a mere three years ago. The first-ever proof-of-concept study indicating that drone-based blood transportation could even be feasible came out in 2015. Now, drone-based medical deliveries are, well  taking off.

Ultimately, the issue at hand is one of communication  between blood banks and hospitals, sure, but also across often-overlooked rural and urban divides. In reducing some of the inefficiencies that plague its bloated health-care system, India hopes to get one step closer to ending the countrys blood shortage. Only then will they be able to begin to tackle the countless other problems that befall a medical industry the size of Indias  though those problems probably wont warrant solutions as cool as flying blood drones.
An employee works on the production line of motherboards and chips of network switch in Wuhan, China. Photo: VCG via Getty Images

Yesterday, a blockbuster Bloomberg Businessweek story was published claiming that Chinas Peoples Liberation Army had managed to crack the manufacturing supply chain and hack chips in servers manufactured by a company called Supermicro  chips used by Amazon, Apple, and around 30 other American companies. It means that the foundation of the last 25 years of electronics manufacturing  the use of cheap and serpentine supply chains, many based out of China, to manufacture electronics designed and assembled across the globe  has been compromised.

Its a world-shaking story  if it holds up. Theres a part of the whole thing that I cannot get past: Both Apple and Amazon have issued vehement, detailed denials, with both companies casting aspersions on Bloomberg Businessweeks reporting and flat-out denying key parts of its story. True, its not uncommon for big companies to carefully deny damaging stories whose main thrust is true. But its unthinkable for a large and publicly traded company to categorically and comprehensively deny the claims of an article like this unless theyre really not true.

On the other hand, Bloomberg Businessweek is known as both one of the best, and one of the most cautious, publications in the world of business and national-security reporting. Its equally unthinkable that it would have published a story this shocking without having reported it deeply (the reporters write that they have 17 sources) and having thoroughly checked it out legally.

Which means that one of two unthinkable things must be happening, and its driving me crazy. Ive read through Bloombergs story and Apples and Amazons statements over and over, trying to see the angle where somehow both Businessweeks story and Apples and Amazons statements are true, and I just cant.

Lets take a look at what each company is saying, and what Bloomberg claims, starting with Amazon, which gets much more focus in the Bloomberg piece.

Amazon

Amazon issued two statements. One was a statement denying much of the story and was provided to Bloomberg before Bloomberg published its piece. After Bloomberg published its story, Amazon issued a stronger denial, posted to its own site and written by Steve Schmidt, chief information security officer at Amazon Web Services. Im looking mainly at the second statement because its much more wide-ranging and a more vigorous denial of the Bloomberg story.

Bloomberg: Nested on [Supermicro] servers motherboards, the testers found a tiny microchip, not much bigger than a grain of rice, that wasnt part of the boards original design.

Amazon: At no time, past or present, have we ever found any issues relating to modified hardware or malicious chips in SuperMicro motherboards in any Elemental or Amazon systems.

Bloomberg: Amazon reported the discovery to U.S. authorities, sending a shudder through the intelligence community.

Amazon: Nor have we engaged in an investigation with the government.

Bloomberg: The first pass uncovered troubling issues, prompting AWS to take a closer look at Elementals main product: the expensive servers that customers installed in their networks to handle the video compression. [] In late spring of 2015, Elementals staff boxed up several servers and sent them to Ontario, Canada, for the third-party security company to test, the person says.

Amazon: [W]hen Amazon was considering acquiring Elemental, we did a lot of due diligence with our own security team, and also commissioned a single external security company to do a security assessment for us as well. That report did not identify any issues with modified chips or hardware.

Bloomberg: Mindful of the Elemental findings, Amazons security team conducted its own investigation into AWSs Beijing facilities and found altered motherboards there as well, including more sophisticated designs than theyd previously encountered.

Amazon: The article also claims that after learning of hardware modifications and malicious chips in Elemental servers, we conducted a network-wide audit of SuperMicro motherboards and discovered the malicious chips in a Beijing data center. [] We never found modified hardware or malicious chips in servers in any of our data centers.

Apple

Apples denial is in many ways much stronger than Amazons. This may be because, as Bloomberg alleges, the company refused to cooperate with authorities except to alert the FBI when it discovered a Supermicro server with hardware modification. Still, Apples statement and Bloombergs stand in stark contrast to each other.

Bloomberg: Apple made its discovery of suspicious chips inside Supermicro servers around May 2015, after detecting odd network activity and firmware problems, according to a person familiar with the timeline.

Apple: On this we can be very clear: Apple has never found malicious chips, hardware manipulations or vulnerabilities purposely planted in any server.

Bloomberg: Two of the senior Apple insiders say the company reported the incident to the FBI but kept details about what it had detected tightly held, even internally.

Apple: Apple never had any contact with the FBI or any other agency about such an incident.

Bloomberg: As for Apple, one of the three senior insiders says that in the summer of 2015, a few weeks after it identified the malicious chips, the company started removing all Supermicro servers from its data centers, a process Apple referred to internally as going to zero. Every Supermicro server, all 7,000 or so, was replaced in a matter of weeks, the senior insider says.

Apple: We did not uncover any unusual vulnerabilities in the servers we purchased from Super Micro when we updated the firmware and software according to our standard procedures.

So what happened? Perhaps Bloomberg Businessweek, a very cautious publication with extremely stringent editing standards, and two veteran reporters with decades of experience between them, got badly played by over a dozen sources spread across Apple, Amazon, and the national intelligence community. Some of the sourcing in Bloombergs story feels thin. All of the sources are anonymous, and much of Bloombergs assertions are secondhand information. For instance, Bloombergs descriptions of the modified motherboards are based not on what Bloomberg reporters saw, but what someone talking to Bloomberg reporters saw.

But 17 sources spoke about modified Supermicro hardware to Bloomberg, and there are multiple sources who assert that the modified hardware found its way to both Apple and Amazon. Its hard to imagine so many sources all steering the reporters so wrong in the same direction, barring some massive conspiracy. Keep in mind, too, that Bloombergs editors (and legal department) saw these very strong denials from Apple and Amazon before running the story, and felt confident enough in their reporting to move forward.

And yet, if the Bloomberg story is true, Apples and Amazons denials also dont make sense! Both companies are press shy, often more comfortable staying silent than making a statement, even in the face of controversy. Bloombergs story is explosive, so its understandable that both felt the need to issue statements, but both statements were far more expansive than they needed to be. (And remember that these statements, vetted by both companies legal teams, could now be subject to SEC scrutiny as materially false statements that would be misleading to investors.)

Its beyond puzzling as to why both companies are being strident in refuting the story  including both denying ever contacting U.S. authorities or ever discovering motherboards with hardware modifications  especially when they had the option to either stay quiet or offer a much more muted denial to Bloomberg.

If Apples and Amazons denials werent so vigorous, I could concoct a far-fetched scenario where Amazons and Apples statements were made out of ignorance. Bloombergs story says the intelligence community was aware that the Chinese government planned a hardware attack via Supermicro servers as early as 2014, but the intelligence community was unsure what to do with the information  alerting companies about its suspicions would likely destroy a San Josebased manufacturer and alert the Chinese intelligence community that U.S. spies were on to them. So its possible that Amazon and Apple found these odd Supermicro servers with hardware modifications, alerted authorities, and removed them from use, without being aware that they were actually being targeted by the Chinese military intelligence. But Apple and Amazon both deny that they ever found any malicious hardware, period, and deny that they ever worked with authorities.

Perhaps you could even go with the even more implausible theory that the denials are part of some government master plan, with Apple and Amazon working in concert with, or at the orders of, authorities, but it just doesnt hold up; Apple flatly states: We are not under any kind of gag order or other confidentiality obligations.

What makes all of this feel like a toothache that I cant stop touching with my tongue is, I cant see who actually benefits in any of the possible scenarios laid out here. Bloomberg wouldnt blow up its reputation on a flimsy story. I can see no reason why 17 different sources would all have the desire to work with Bloomberg reporters to advance a narrative of Chinas hardware-hacking attempts becoming a reality. But I also cant understand why Apple and Amazon seem to be overly broad in their denials unless they are very, very sure of what the facts are  theyre exposing themselves to too much risk otherwise.

If I blur my eyes and give all sides the benefit of the doubt to an absurd degree, I could imagine a world where all of them believe that they are telling the truth. What I cannot see, no matter how many times I turn Bloombergs story and Amazons and Apples statements over in my mind, is a world where all parties are actually right.
Above: Leila Josefowicz, photographed by Chris Lee

~ Author: Oberon

Thursday October 4th, 2018 - A world premiere by Louis Andriessen and a glistening performance of Debussy's La Mer book-ended Leila Josefowicz's inspired rendering of the Stravinsky violin concerto as the New York Philharmonic's new Music Director, Jaap van Zweden, continued the inaugural programs of his reign.

Masetro van Zweden's seating arrangement for the orchestra seems to have settled on having the celli and basses at his right hand, with the violas wedged in the center: all well and good, except that this configuration deprives us of a clear view of Cynthia Phelps, principal violist and an artist we much admire.

Above: composer Louis Andriessen

Andriessen's Agamemnon, a New York Philharmonic commission, is a strikingly dramatic piece which I feel has the potential to enter the repertory of many orchestras worldwide. It makes for a terrific program-opener, and it seems to me that it must be as rewarding to play as to hear.

The name 'Agamemnon' finds its iconic musical incarnation in the shattering opening notes of Richard Strauss's opera ELEKTRA. Strauss then goes on to dwell on the story of the women the king has left behind. Mr. Andriessen's new work gives the story of its title character a fresh dimension.

Trumpet fanfares signal kingship, flutes and bells speak of ancient songs. The timpani seem ominous at first, then develop a swaying rhythms. A big rising theme carries forward as the timpani continue to pulse. In one of the work's many intriguing sonic mixes, the tuba and piano are joined. The trombones sing forth, then a combination of strings, winds, and chimes lends a rather Oriental feel.

The horns again evoke the purple of royalty; woodwinds and violas unite. Then, in a particularly atmospheric (and extended) solo, the soprano saxophone brings its unique colour. The music turns grand, then shifts to a more intimate feel with a solo from oboist Sherry Sylar. The piano is heard again, this time with the violins. A composer unafraid of melody, Andriessen gives us a plaintive flute solo (I could not see who was playing), followed by Mahleresque strings. Tuba, trombones, and piano unite in a rather jazzy passage.

The music sounds mythic over the heartbeat of time, the deep horns and timpani heralding a dense crescendo. Suddenly, silence falls. But the piece is not yet over: as if out of nowhere, a strikingly beautiful woman appears standing amid the violins. She begins to speak:

"Just a few words. Agamemnon was killed by his wife. Soon I will be killed as well. This is life. The luckiest hours like scribbles in chalk on a slate in a classroom. We stare, and try to understand them. Then luck turns its back - and everythings wiped out. Joy was not less pathetic than the worst grief."

The words are from Aeschylus, translated by Ted Hughes; the first three lines are by Mr. Andriessen. The speaker, embodying Kassandra, is Juliette Kenn de Balinthazy, who does not declaim the words with theatrical hauteur, but rather speaks simply, as a woman. It's a great moment.

The audience responded to this new work with genuine enthusiasm, welcoming the composer's onstage bow. He designated various soloists to stand, the saxophone player (not named in the program) rightly winning shouts of approval. I felt that Mlle. de Balinthazy should have been brought forward, and also that she deserved to be listed on the main program page rather than as a parenthetical note under 'Instrumentation'. (I found some photos of her, but they are all copyrighted...believe me, she looks like a goddess.)

For me, the sure sign of the successful premiere of a new work is simple: I want to hear it again. Right away, and any time. I feel that so often works premiered by the Philharmonic vanish after their initial performances. It would be beneficial, I think, to program them in the succeeding season to gauge their viability.

Both the London Philharmonic and the Royal Concertgebouw have announced performances of Agamemnon for 2019.

Stravinsky's Violin Concerto, so deeply familiar to me after hearing it played dozens of times at New York City Ballet over the past 40 years, was given a fascinating performance by Ms. Josefowicz, who brought a remarkable blend of grit and silk to her tone as the varying moods of the concerto invoke. Needless to say, the Balanchine ballet created to this score played in my mind throughout tonight's performance.

Backed by simply marvelous orchestral playing, Ms Josefowicz seemed truly to be having a wonderful time playing this music for us. She would dig into the dramatic passages, then let a sort of steely beauty take over in the more lyrical moments. The opening movement's 5-note theme gets passed about to perfect effect as I continued to dream of Balanchine.

In the strange, unearthly melody of Aria I, Ms. Josefowicz's dynamic control impressed. The orchestra brings forth chords, upon which the solo violin comments. Ms. Josefowicz gave me the chills with her haunting playing of Aria II: over the pulsing, deeper melody her playing attained incredible subtlety. From its driven start, the Capriccio moves onward with soloist and ensemble engaged in a folkish dance.

Great enthusiasm and shouts of joy filled the hall after the Josefowicz Stravinsky, and we keenly anticipated an encore, wondering what she might choose to play. Instead, when Ms. Josefowicz returned to the stage, it was on the arm of Deborah Borda, president and chief executive officer of the New York Philharmonic. In a lovely and sincere speech, Ms. Borda announced that Ms. Josefowicz had been chosen as the recipient of the 2018 Avery Fisher Prize. This announcement caused a fresh wave of applause for the comely violinist, who spoke briefly.

More Stravinsky - his Symphonies of Wind Instruments (1947 version) - followed the interval. This compact piece, for an ensemble of brass and woodwind players, features stimulating harmonies, expert layering of sounds, and plenty of rhythmic variety. Among the stellar group, Robert Langevin (flute), Anthony McGill (clarinet), Sherry Sylar (oboe), and Judith LeClair (bassoon) were prominent. A solemn brass chorale made a particular impression. All this, in the work's ten-minute time frame.

While we're on the subject of Stravinsky, I would like to suggest that you watch this unique film: Stravinsky in Hollywood.

Debussy's La Mer brought the evening to its close. Waiting for the Maestro to return to the podium, I wondered how this music would sound under van Zweden's guidance. The answer? Superb! The orchestra were on luminous form, and the many solo phrases that dot the score were exquisitely played, often by the artists featured in the preceding Stravinsky work.

In La Mer's first two movements, I felt myself immersed in the coloristic sea that Debussy's music so sublimely evokes. The familiar theme of the concluding Dialogue du vent et de la mer was taken up near the end by Robert Langevin: simply intoxicating.

~ Oberon
OceanicTime Archives November 2021 (6) October 2021 (18) September 2021 (14) August 2021 (18) July 2021 (17) June 2021 (15) May 2021 (13) April 2021 (16) March 2021 (25) February 2021 (18) January 2021 (15) December 2020 (12) November 2020 (24) October 2020 (20) September 2020 (17) August 2020 (21) July 2020 (18) June 2020 (19) May 2020 (20) April 2020 (22) March 2020 (27) February 2020 (31) January 2020 (23) December 2019 (21) November 2019 (30) October 2019 (23) September 2019 (23) August 2019 (21) July 2019 (23) June 2019 (10) May 2019 (27) April 2019 (27) March 2019 (50) February 2019 (27) January 2019 (22) December 2018 (16) November 2018 (30) October 2018 (32) September 2018 (16) August 2018 (19) July 2018 (11) June 2018 (25) May 2018 (23) April 2018 (33) March 2018 (64) February 2018 (11) January 2018 (28) December 2017 (19) November 2017 (28) October 2017 (21) September 2017 (18) August 2017 (20) July 2017 (18) June 2017 (19) May 2017 (33) April 2017 (33) March 2017 (33) February 2017 (20) January 2017 (31) December 2016 (31) November 2016 (26) October 2016 (29) September 2016 (23) August 2016 (32) July 2016 (27) June 2016 (23) May 2016 (28) April 2016 (27) March 2016 (33) February 2016 (16) January 2016 (27) December 2015 (24) November 2015 (20) October 2015 (24) September 2015 (27) August 2015 (17) July 2015 (15) June 2015 (23) May 2015 (25) April 2015 (17) March 2015 (35) February 2015 (25) January 2015 (20) December 2014 (19) November 2014 (19) October 2014 (25) September 2014 (23) August 2014 (22) July 2014 (21) June 2014 (20) May 2014 (21) April 2014 (31) March 2014 (44) February 2014 (28) January 2014 (38) December 2013 (23) November 2013 (27) October 2013 (33) September 2013 (30) August 2013 (26) July 2013 (31) June 2013 (31) May 2013 (31) April 2013 (53) March 2013 (43) February 2013 (30) January 2013 (37) December 2012 (31) November 2012 (54) October 2012 (41) September 2012 (35) August 2012 (42) July 2012 (40) June 2012 (40) May 2012 (35) April 2012 (44) March 2012 (71) February 2012 (50) January 2012 (45) December 2011 (30) November 2011 (44) October 2011 (56) September 2011 (36) August 2011 (38) July 2011 (31) June 2011 (42) May 2011 (48) April 2011 (54) March 2011 (34) February 2011 (35) January 2011 (35) December 2010 (35) November 2010 (33) October 2010 (42) September 2010 (38) August 2010 (25) July 2010 (28) June 2010 (25) May 2010 (22) April 2010 (19) March 2010 (39) February 2010 (36) January 2010 (27) December 2009 (16) November 2009 (30) October 2009 (36) September 2009 (27) August 2009 (27) July 2009 (33) June 2009 (24) May 2009 (25) April 2009 (22) March 2009 (31) February 2009 (22) January 2009 (20) December 2008 (15) November 2008 (21) October 2008 (33)
Denis Mukwege, a doctor who helps victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nadia Murad, a Yazidi rights activist and survivor of sexual slavery by Islamic State, won the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. They were honored for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said.

"Denis Mukwege is the helper who has devoted his life to defending these victims. Nadia Murad is the witness who tells of the abuses perpetrated against herself and others," the Committee said in its citation. "Each of them in their own way has helped to give greater visibility to war-time sexual violence, so that the perpetrators can be held accountable for their actions."

Mukwege heads the Panzi Hospital in the eastern Congo city of Bukavu. The clinic receives thousands of women each year, many of them requiring surgery from sexual violence. Murad is an advocate for the Yazidi minority in Iraq and for refugee and women's rights in general. She was enslaved and raped by Islamic State fighters in Mosul, Iraq, in 2014.

"Rape in war has been a crime for centuries. But it was a crime in the shadows. The two laureates have both shone a light on it," Dan Smith, Director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), told Reuters. Mukwege, a past winner of the United Nations Human Rights Prize and the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize, dedicated his Nobel award to all women affected by rape and sexual violence.

He has performed surgery on scores of women after they had been raped by armed men, and campaigned to highlight their plight. He also provides HIV/AIDS treatment as well as free maternal care. Although the Second Congo War, which killed more than five million people, formally ended in 2003, violence remains rampant, with militias frequently targeting civilians. The Panzi Hospital has also been the target of threats, and in 2012 Mukwege's home was invaded by armed men who held his daughters at gunpoint, shot at him and killed his bodyguard.

Shortly before that attack, he had denounced mass rape in the Democratic Republic of Congo and impunity for it in a speech at the United Nations. "He has risked his life to help women survive atrocity," said SIPRI's Smith. Mukwege was in the operation room when he was told the news.

Later, speaking at a news conference at the hospital, he said the prize was an important recognition of many women's trauma. "Dear survivors all over the world, I would like to tell you that through this prize, the world is listening to you and rejects indifference, the world refuses to stand idly by in the face of your suffering," he said. Wivine Moleka, a member of Congo's ruling PPRD party, said Mukwege was more than just a doctor. "He is a humanist who has taken the pain of women into consideration, pain in their flesh and in their soul. The prize sends a strong signal to everyone about these women who are raped every day," she said.

Survival

Murad said she shared the award "with all Yazidis with all the Iraqis, Kurds and all the minorities and all survivors of sexual violence around the world". "For myself, I think of my mother, who was murdered by Daesh," she said in a statement to Reuters, using an Arabic term for Islamic State.

Murad was 21-years-old in 2014 when Islamic State militants attacked the village where she had grown up in northern Iraq. The militants killed those who refused to convert to Islam, including six of her brothers and her mother. Along with many of the other young women in her village, she was taken into captivity by the militants, and sold repeatedly for sex as part of Islamic State's slave trade.

She escaped captivity with the help of a Sunni Muslim family in Mosul, then IS's de facto capital in Iraq, and became an advocate for the rights of her community around the world. In 2017, Murad published a memoir of her ordeal, "The Last Girl". She recounted in harrowing detail her months in captivity, her escape and her journey to activism. "At some point, there was rape and nothing else. This becomes your normal day," she wrote.

The United Nations has called the assaults launched by the Sunni militants against the religious minority in northern Iraq a campaign of genocide. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi congratulated her on the award, and Vian Dakhil, a Yazidi member of Iraq's parliament, said: "It is the victory of good and peace over the forces of darkness."Murad, who is also a Sakharov Prize winner, is the second youngest Nobel Prize laureate after Malala Yousafzai.

Speak up

The award follows a year in which the abuse and mistreatment of women in all walks of life across the globe has been a focus of attention. Asked whether the #metoo movement, a prominent women's rights activist forum, was an inspiration for this year's prize, Nobel Committee Chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen said: "Metoo and war crimes are not quite the same. But they have in common that they see the suffering of women, the abuse of women and that it is important that women leave the concept of shame behind and speak up."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the award was part of a growing movement to recognize the violence and injustice faced by women. "Let us honor these new Nobel laureates by standing up for victims of sexual violence everywhere," he said in a statement. The prize will be presented in Oslo on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will.
India using chemical weapons on unarmed citizens in Held Kashmir: FO

The Foreign Office on Thursday said India was using chemical weapons on unarmed citizens in Held Kashmir.



Pakistan strongly condemns Indian aggression in the occupied valley, Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Faisal told a weekly press briefing. We want to resolve the Kashmir issue as per the wishes of the Kashmiri people, he added.



The spokesperson said the Kartarpur border issue along with other matters will remain pending if India doesnt agree to hold talks with Pakistan. He said while Pakistan believes in Quaid-e-Azams principle of peaceful ties with neighbours, it has not made efforts to convince India to hold talks. He recalled that the first initiative to hold talks was, in fact, taken by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi who wrote a letter to Prime Minister Imran Khan following the latter took charge of his office. The spokesperson said that Pakistan will present a strong case against Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Pakistan will not compromise on matters pertaining to national interests, he reiterated.



Dr Faisal confirmed that a meeting between Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and US President Donald Trump had taken place. In the meeting, a positive exchange of views took place between the two leaders, he said.



On Shakil Afridi issue, the FO spokesperson said Pakistans stance remains unchanged. In response to a question, Dr Faisal said the US should hold dialogue with the Taliban. We hope that the negotiations are fruitful, he said. We dont want a single country to be held responsible for establishing peace in Afghanistan.
Malik Riaz questioned by SC

ISLAMABAD: Malik Riaz had a lough day at the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday where honourable justices grilled him about Bahria Town Karachis land swap agreement with the Malir Development Authority (MDA).



At one point in the hearing, Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar made him an offer to settle the matter by depositing a trillion rupees into the Dam Fund. He said if Riaz was unwilling to pay, he should get ready to face trial on the merits of the case.



The chief justice said Pakistan needed Rs1.5 trillion to build dams, and asked Riaz if he could build one for the country.



Referring to the land in question, Riaz responded, Why should I pay Rs10 for something that is worth a rupee.



He continued, I have already deposited Rs7bn in the court. I request the court to have mercy.



The five-member SC bench was reviewing petitions filed by Riazs property empire  Bahria Town  and investors against the top courts ruling in the land allotment.



The court took exception to the land swap, noting that the MDAs prime real estate was taken in exchange for barren land alongside the Balochistan border. Justice Asif Saeed Khosa observed that the MDA was handed poor quality land in return.



The court said that public land was given to Bahria through deceit. Gold was given in exchange for silver.



Private investors and residents of the housing colony also attended the hearing where they defended the Bahria Town for providing a safe environment to its dwellers and introducing a secure investment opportunity in Karachi.



The court wondered if these attributes could make up for illegalities in the land swap deal. A [consolidated chunk of land] was taken from the MDA and in return it was given bits and pieces, the chief justice said, and asked the MDA what losses it had suffered in the exchange. To the courts surprise, the MDA said it did not suffer any losses in the transaction.



The CJP exclaimed, Malir says it did not suffer any losses; the Sindh govt says it did not suffer any losses  they are all in this together.



He even hinted at sending the MDA managing director to jail for not cooperating with the court.



Riaz, meanwhile, argued that land swaps have been practiced in Sindh since 1982. Almost 70 such land swaps have taken place, he said. Bahria swapped four villages with the MDA, for which Rs4 billion were deposited into the national treasury. Rs360 million were also deposited as payment for water bills.



Bahria Town counsel Ali Zafar told the court that his client was in possession of 1,800 canals of MDA land, and was willing to pay an additional Rs5bn to settle the matter. Riaz also argued against involving the National Accountability Bureau, claiming that hundreds of thousands of people will get unemployed if the project fell apart.
After supporting nearly 900 infrastructure projects in Tennessee since opening its doors in the state more than a decade ago, Burns & McDonnell is expanding its presence in Chattanooga.

The 100 percent employee-owned engineering, architecture, construction, consulting and environmental firm has relocated within the city to accommodate plans for doubling the size of its 30-person local workforce during the next five years.

The growth in the region is part of he firm's nationwide effort to hire more than 1,000 professionals annually, officials said.

The firm's new office space is at 100 W. Martin Luther King Blvd., and spans 8,619 square feet. Backed by an international team of more than 6,000 professionals, the Burns & McDonnell office in Chattanooga "performs engineering, consulting, construction and environmental services, with a focus on energy infrastructure upgrades - helping provide more resilient and reliable power to the region. The team is continuing the firm's ongoing expansion within commercial, manufacturing, industrial, water and power generation markets," it was stated.

"We are proud to call Chattanooga home and to be a part of this flourishing city," said Marlin Gines, Chattanooga office manager for Burns & McDonnell. "As our community grows, the demand rises for more flexible, reliable power systems and strengthened infrastructure. We're broadening our presence to help our clients meet those needs and better serve residents across the Tennessee Valley."
Pakistan asked India to share Kishanganga dam water flows

LAHORE: Pakistan has asked India to share the data showing inflow and discharge of water at the Kishanganga dam and water flows in different rivers.



It has also sought dates for inspection of the 330MW hydroelectric project that India had agreed to during a two-day meeting held in August in Lahore between Indus water commissioners of the two countries.



We recently asked Indian authorities for Indus waters in writing to give us dates for inspection of the Kishanganga dam as soon as possible. Through the letter, we have also pressed Indian authorities to immediately share the data concerning flows of water at the river and releases/discharges, in/outflows at the dam with us under the relevant provisions of the Indus Water Treaty, Pakistans Commissioner for Indus Waters Syed Muhammad Mehr Ali Shah told Dawn on Thursday.



We are receiving water at Jhelum basin in our territory, but to ascertain our need or requirement we need data India is obligated to share with us time to time, he said.



During the 115th meeting of the Permanent Commission for Indus Waters, India had agreed to allow Pakistan to inspect the projects built on the Jhelum basin, including Kishanganga hydroelectric project, in the near future.



Similarly, Islamabad had agreed to allow New Delhi to carry out inspection of the Kotri barrage over the Indus under Article VIII (4) (c) of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). Besides Kishanganga, India had also agreed to let Pakistani experts inspect sites of two hydropower projects  1,000MW Pakal Dul and 48MW Lower Kalnal at Chenab basin  by the end of September.



However, Indian authorities later confirmed on Oct 7 to 11 for tour/inspection of the projects by a three-member Pakistani team, headed by the Indus water commissioner. But finally it postponed the inspection on the pretext of local elections in held Kashmir.



Mr Shah said that Pakistani authorities wanted to have a detailed tour of the Kishanganga project since Pakistan had already raised various objections on its design and construction.



Pakistan has already approached the World Bank, demanding constitution of a seven-member court of arbitration to address its concerns. On the other hand, India wants a neutral expert over the issue.



However in June this year, the World Bank reportedly requested Pakistan to stand down from pursuing its stand of referring to the Kishanganga dam dispute to the court of arbitration and instead accept Indias offer of appointing a neutral expert, but Pakistan didnt do so and stuck to its stance to date.



Our stance is still the same as it was before. Under the treaty, it is our right to select the way that suits us. And that is the court of arbitration. Similarly, the World Bank, under the treaty, could not proceed further until willingness of both the parties at a mutually agreed stance. Recently, the WB president reportedly assured our foreign minister to make another effort to address Pakistans concerns on the project, the commissioner explained.



In reply to a question about the fate or status of Pakistans objections since the project has already been completed by India, Mr Shah said that it did not matter.



Technically, Pakistans objection can be addressed even now, as our concerns are related to design and legally, under the IWT, if any project facing objections by either party could not be recognised, he maintained.



Under the treaty, he said, if the decision came after completion of any project facing objections raised by either party, the relevant portions of such schemes would be demolished.



Under the same provisions, the neutral expert had got demolished the upper side of the Baglihar dam in India, Mr Shah said.
Pakistan enjoys stability through comprehensive approach against terrorism: Maleeha Lodhi

UNITED NATION: Pakistan has successfully dislodged terrorist sanctuaries from its territory, but now the principal threat is coming from beyond the countrys borders, Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi has told a United Nations committee.



Speaking in the General Assemblys Sixth (Legal) Committee, she said Pakistan was combating the challenge from abroad by implementing a comprehensive border management system along its western border.



Terrorists and their evil acts have never shaken my countrys resolve and determination to continue the fight to defeat it, Ambassador Lodhi, Pakistans permanent representative to the UN, said in a debate on terrorism.



The hard-earned stability that Pakistan enjoys today has been attained through a comprehensive approach against terrorism, she added.



Elaborating on the implementation of the border management system, Ambassador Lodhi said it would enable Pakistan to prevent the cross border movement of militants, stop the illegal smuggling of arms and check illicit drug trafficking while at the same time facilitate trade through improved border crossing facilities.



Also, she said no terrorist movement could be defeated by military means alone. On its part, Pakistan was following a whole society approach, engaging community leaders, developing strong counter-narratives, enhanced regional cooperation and following international obligations.



In her remarks, Ambassador Lodhi also underscored the need for addressing the root causes of terrorism, including well-acknowledged drivers of radicalisation, which lie in political injustice, economic and social marginalisation and exclusion, and the breeding grounds spawned by long festering and protracted conflicts.



Chronic instability due to conflicts and military interventions has provided fertile ground to terrorists to recruit followers and spread their ideology, she said, adding, Terrorists and their supporters are obviously able to find save havens in ungoverned conflict areas, she said.



While the United Nations is focusing on improving technical measures, Pakistan firmly believes that the extremist ideology would never be defeated unless we deal with the geopolitical dynamics which fuel terrorism.



Pakistan, she said, backed the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) position on a consensus-based Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT). The proposed Convention must be consistent with International Humanitarian Law and clearly differentiate between acts of terrorism and the legitimate struggles for self-determination of people living under foreign occupation.



The malicious attempts by those who seek to manipulate the international consensus against terrorism to justify the suppression of people struggling for their right to self-determination must never be permitted to succeed, Ambassador Lodhi told delegates from around the world.



Without a holistic approach, we will be fighting only the symptoms and not the underlying causes of this deadly phenomenon.



The United Nations, the Pakistani envoy said, enjoyed a unique position to build consensus among member states to deal with the diverse challenges posed by terrorism and extremism. However, the capacity-building structure of the United Nations was increasingly donor-driven and does not cater adequately to the needs of member states.
SC ordered Judicial commission to complete investigation about APS within six weeks

The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the formation of a judicial commission to launch an investigation into the 2014 Army Public School (APS) carnage in Peshawar.



The SC asked the commission to complete its investigation and submit a report within six weeks. The chief justice of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) will form the commission that is to be led by a senior judge.



In the deadliest terror attack in the countrys history, 131 schoolchildren and 10 other people were killed when heavily armed militants stormed the school building on Dec 16, 2014. The chief justice had taken suo motu notice of the matter on April 19 when parents of the martyred children requested him to order a judicial inquiry into the carnage while he was on a visit to the Supreme Courts Peshawar registry.



The apex court at the time had ordered formation of a judicial commission on an application submitted by APS Martyrs Forum. However, the commission never came into existence.



During the hearing on Friday, Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar apologised for earlier giving a verbal order for the commission and said that at the time, the Peshawar bench had been broken.



"Now, in front of you, I give the order in which there will be no delay," the top judge remarked. He added that the whole country equally shares the pain of the APS victim's loved ones and assured them that they will get justice.



"I will visit the Peshawar APS on Oct 16," the CJP said.



On hearing the top judge's announcement to create the commission, the parents of the victims burst into tears and said that they now believe that they will get justice for the blood of their children.



One of the aggrieved fathers, Advocate Ajoon Khan, whose son Asfand Khan was also martyred in the incident was present in the court as the advocate for the APS victims parents.



Speaking to media, the families of the APS victims expressed their appreciation for the CJP's order to create the commission and felt confident that they would now get justice for their children.



Earlier in April, the parents had complained that some weeks before the APS carnage, the authorities concerned were alerted by the National Counter Terrorism Authority about a terrorist threat to attack an army-run educational institution, possibly the Peshawar APS. However, they said, no steps were taken to prevent the attack.
Shahbaz Sharif arrested by NAB

Former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif has been arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) at its Lahore office in the Rs14 billion Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme case.



The Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly has been accused of corruption in the Ashiana Housing case.



He will be produced before an accountability court for remand tomorrow. He will be kept in a highly-secured lock-up inside the NAB Lahore office until his apperance in court.



"The National Accountability Bureau Lahore has arrested former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif in the Ashiana company case," a press release issued by NAB Islamabad said, adding that the bureau will present him before an accountability court in Lahore on Saturday.



Shahbaz, the PML-N president, was detained by NAB officials and his car was sent away. His private staff who accompanied him as security were also sent away.

Shahbaz Sharif's vehicle returns from NAB Lahore's office.



A heavy contingent of Rangers has been posted outside NAB Lahore.



Supporters of the PML-N have started gathering outside the bureau's office. The arrest comes a little over a week ahead of the by-polls scheduled for October 14.



Naeemul Haq, a leader of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), said he was not aware of the facts regarding the former Punjab chief minister's reported arrest.



"I don't have the facts yet to be able to provide a response to this. All I can say is that all citizens are equal in the eyes of the law,".



Shahbazs blue-eyed officers, Lahore Development Authority former director general Ahad Cheema and Fawad Hasan Fawad, are already in NAB custody in the Ashiana Housing case.



Fawad Hasan Fawad, former principal secretary to ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif, in his statement before NAB in August claimed that he had awarded a contract to a favourite firm in the Rs14bn Ashiana Housing project on Shahbaz's behest. A source at the time said that Fawad had also provided incriminating evidence against the ex-chief minister in the Ashiana Housing corruption case, making it difficult for him (Sharif) to defend himself before a combined investigation team of the NAB Lahore.



Shahbaz is also an accused in the Saaf Pani Company scam. The NABs Lahore office had re-summoned him in that case today.



He has previously appeared before NAB on a couple of occasions in both the cases and recorded his statement. He is accused of violating the Punjab Procurement Regularity Authority (PPRA) rules in the award of contracts in the Saaf Pani Company affairs.



In November 2017, NAB had launched a thorough probe into the affairs of the 56 public-sector companies formed by Shahbaz administration in Punjab for their alleged involvement in corruption.
We cannot-should not be held responsible for failures in Afghanistan: Shah Mahmood

WASHINGTON: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said it was unfair to blame Pakistan alone for failures in Afghanistan. We cannot and should not be held responsible for the failures in Afghanistan, whether its poor governance, corruption or disunity within the Afghan government, he said while addressing a seminar at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington DC.



Speaking on the final day of his 10-day official trip to the United States that involved high-level meetings with US officials including Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and National Security Adviser John Bolton, Qureshi said Pakistans role in the Afghan war had been at the centre of discussions during all his meetings.



Qureshi pledged that Pakistan would use all its influence with the Taliban to support the peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan. However, he decried the assertion that it was Pakistans responsibility alone, adding that all stakeholders in the region should be collectively responsible for bringing peace to the war-ravaged country. He that although Pakistans influence over the Taliban has been diminished, it will endeavour to do what it can. However, it will not be because of any pressure by the US but because it is our self-interest to do so, he said, adding that peace and stability in Pakistan is linked to peace and stability in Afghanistan.



The US and Afghanistan have long asserted that Taliban sanctuaries on Pakistani territory have allowed the Taliban to operate and carry out attacks on US and Afghan forces.



Qureshi vehemently rejected this assertion, saying Pakistans security forces have dismantled the safe havens and now it is in fact Pakistan that is concerned for its safety from anti- Pakistan safe havens operating inside Afghanistan under your (US) watch. He explained how he reached the conclusion that [my countrys] bilateral relations with the United States are dependent on the improvement of the situation in Afghanistan.



Qureshi said he understood the importance that Kabul had in the relationship with the United States. It helped me conclude that the road to Washington passes through Kabul and thats why I chose Kabul as my first destination after becoming the foreign minister, he said.



When asked by Associate Vice President of Asia Centre at the US Institute of Peace Moeed Yusuf as to whether Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) governments objective for the trip had been achieved, Qureshi responded it was also an achievement if he was able to halt the slide downwards in the fraught bilateral relationship. We have to trust each other  there is no other way, he said.



Speaking with Pakistani media following the seminar, Qureshi said the two countries had made significant progress in the relationship. He said he witnessed a visible change in how the US carried out talks with Pakistan this time. He expressed his pleasant surprise that Pompeo and other US politicians were ready to listen to what Pakistan had to say. This, he said, was in stark contrast to previous meetings he had held while minister of foreign affairs under the previous administration of Pakistan Peoples Party.



He said following the US delegations visit to Pakistan last month, Washington now understood that Pakistans civilian and military leadership were unified in their message in the war on terror and their support for peace in Afghanistan. We told the US that peace in Afghanistan was not possible without progress in Pakistan, he said. We do not deny the importance of Afghanistan but the US-Pakistan relationship should not be viewed through the prism of Afghanistan, he added.
We want to establish four to five new oil refineries,any country can invest: Petroleum Minister 05 October, 2018



Related News Imran Khan distributed loan cheques under Kamyab Jawan Programme PTI govt to face all challenges coming its way: Imran khan More on this View All Tips for Taking Incredible iPhone Travel Photos

Top 2021 Accessories We Know You Will Love

Types of Casino Payment Methods

Are Slot Developers Important for players?

Best Poker Hands ever played on a Casino

Hand Wash and Toiletries in Pakistan And the Role of DUPAS in Reshaping the Industry

Woke Bingo ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet on Thursday accorded preliminary approval to proposed multi-billion rupees deal with Saudi Arabia for construction of an oil refinery near Gwadar Port and decided to remove all those officials illegally appointed by former finance minister Ishaq Dar at important posts.



Briefing journalists on the decisions made by the federal cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that matters related to oil and gas sector were discussed with the visiting Saudi delegation and a big investment would be coming to Pakistan.



Minister for Petroleum Ghulam Sarwar Khan, who was also present on the occasion, said both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will sign an MoU after the arrival of Saudi energy minister to Pakistan by the end of current month or in the beginning of next month. He said Saudi Arabia had expressed the desire to immediately invest in an oil refinery. Its cost, capacity and other modalities will be finalized soon. Saudi Arabia is also interested in Gwadar and China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, he added.



The minister dispelled the impression that China had shown any concern regarding the establishment of an oil refinery by Saudi Arabia. We want to establish four to five new oil refineries and any country can invest, he said.



He said it had been agreed that it would be a government-to-government (G2G) agreement and Saudi Arabias minister of energy will visit Islamabad by the end of current month or next month to sign the document. The provincial governments will be taken into confidence at the time of the signing of agreements, he added.



The minister said Prime Minister Imran Khan was given a warm welcome in Saudi Arabia and the leadership during the meeting had shown keen interest in investing in Pakistan. He dispelled the impression that Prime Minister Imran Khans visit to Saudi Arabia was aimed at seeking financial assistance. The prime minister asked Saudi Arabia for investment and not for any financial assistance. We have got positive response from the government of Saudi Arabia in this regard, he said, and contradicted the news that Pakistan had requested Saudi Arabia to supply oil on deferred payment. The issue of deferred payment was never discussed, he said.



The minister said that soon after the prime ministers visit to Saudi Arabia, a high-powered delegation visited Pakistan and held a series of meetings with various ministries. The delegation also visited Gwadar.



The minister said that Saudi Arabia had also been offered investment in South-North Gas Pipeline and LNG projects besides rigging and exploration in oil and gas sectors. We have total 46 blocks and have offered 10 blocks for open bidding and Saudi Arabia can benefit from this offer, he said. Fawad Chaudhry said that during the past few days a section of media had been reporting about the Saudi delegations visit without verification and without knowing the background of the matter. He appealed to the media to be careful while reporting on such issues.



He said that an important delegation of United Arab Emirates (UAE) was also due and it was expected that huge investment would come from there too. He said Turkey was going to establish a state-of-the-art university in Islamabad where people would be educated about hospitality services.



The minister said the cabinet had decided to remove all those persons, illegally appointed by former finance minister Ishaq Dar in important departments. They include President National Bank Saeed Ahmad; President First Women Bank Tahira Raza, Chief Executive Officer of Zarai Taraqiati Bank Syed Talat Mahmood, President SME Bank Ehsanul Haq Khan; Jameel Ahmad and Shamsul Hassan of State Bank of Pakistan and three officials of the Competition Commission of Pakistan. He said the Supreme Court had termed the appointments made on the recommendations of Ishaq Dar as illegal. He said it was the prerogative of the federal cabinet to make those appointments and its powers could not be delegated to anyone. He said the cabinet gave approval to the initial framework for converting Prime Ministers House into a centre of excellence and a cabinet forum headed by Education Minister Shafqat Mehmood and comprising Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari, Adviser for Commerce and Textile Industry Razzaq Daud and the chairman of the Higher Education Commission would look after its affairs.



He said when the PTI came into power, the Prime Ministers House had 528 employees, over 100 vehicles and four helicopters. Moreover 33 more vehicles worth Rs 960 million were purchased and Rs 330 million was required for their maintenance. He said now only five persons are deputed at the Prime Ministers House while the rest have been sent to surplus pool as the government was against sacking anyone. He said this was the reason why the PTI government was planning to restructure and reform the national institutions.



Referring to Mushahidullah Khan, he said the PTI had no personal enmity with him but unfortunately the previous governments inducted their cronies in the national institutions making them financially unfeasible.



The information minister said the federal cabinet has constituted a task force under the chairmanship of Defence Minister Pervez Khattak to decide about the utilization of 2,467 government properties in the federal capital territory, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab being used by commissioners, deputy commissioners, etc. He said the country was under the burden of Rs 28 trillion loans and lacked health, education and drinking water facilities, so it could not afford such luxurious residences.



Replying to the questions of the media persons, Fawad said that housing scheme and Green Pakistan were two big projects of the present government and within a couple of days dates about launch of PMs Housing Scheme would be announced, which would change the countrys economy.



Explaining increase in the recent gas tariff, Petroleum Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said only 10 to 20 percent rate had been increased for the lowest slab, which forms 80 percent of the total population consuming gas in the country. He said 23 percent of the population uses gas as fuel, and the 143 percent increase in gas tariff will affect only two percent of the gas consumers. On the other side, the minister said LPG cylinder price had been reduced from about Rs 1600 to Rs 1400. The gas rate was increased a little to meet the Rs 158 billion deficit incurred by the last government.



Sarwar said the government was also providing relief to the people on petroleum prices. The government would bear the burden of Rs 8 billion this month by not increasing the petroleum prices, he added.
From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As...
The mathematical (and other) thoughts of a (now retired) math teacher,
Jamas nos callaran



Fisica y culturalmente



Nec plus ultra, nec variatur



Precio del Brent To get the BRENT oil price, please enable Javascript.

Precio del WTI To get the oil price, please enable Javascript.

Paginas vistas en total

Dolar USA Vs Euro

Sin ellas, no seremos



Deja vu



Nada que celebrar



Hasta cuando?



Colombia Hoy



Para nunca olvidar



'Parasite' painted on a statue of Queen, Elizabeth in Kent, England



Sin palabras



La UE le apunta a la paz



Cada vez mas solo



Precio del Oro To get the gold price, please enable Javascript.

LULA y su Pueblo



Bye Bye



Homenaje al genial Quino



Fueron ellos



Una imagen que resume



Tan bajo ha caido que se deja tocar el trasero?



Porky y el Nene (archiconocido narcotraficante)



Ladrones al poder



Asi mira el perrito a su amo



Crazy



Clamor popular



La nueva inquisicion



Bolivia



Chile Hoy



Eso es todo amigos!



Piensalo!



Pinerachet



No More Trump



Adios Macri, hasta nunca



La Marioneta se desinfla



Asi o mas cinico



Almugre



Mexico en 1794



Mas arrastrado imposible



Hasta cuando!



La pura verdad



Solidaridad con Palestina



Serie Capitalismo



Espejismos de la clase trabajadora



Asi es!



Comerciantes o delincuentes



No pasaran!



Asi es la vida



USA HOY



01/01/1959



La avaricia no tiene limites



AYUDA HUMANITARIA?



Chile Hoy



Asi son las cosas



Mapa Electoral de Venezuela



Patagonia argentina?



Un aniversario mas del mayor genocidio de la Humanidad



Retrato del franquismo en Espana



Visca Catalunya!



El Chulo de Madrid



Cuando la policia se roba la democracia



Una imagen dice mas que mil palabras



La purita verdad



Asi gobierna la maldita burguesia



Mi pobre clase media



Como Chavez nadie



Comparte La Colmena via twitter Twittear

Programa de la MUD



Asi o mas clarito



Por que Trump no ataco Corea del Norte?



Hace 15 anos Por que la OEA no se pronuncio?



Una verguenza nacional



La luz que nos guia



La Union Europea Premio Nobel de la Paz?



Feudalismo ayer y hoy



Obama, el mentiroso



Curiosa coincidencia



Un mundo de cerdos



No es extrano?



La Marioneta



Los ricos protestan, los pobres celebran



MARICORI Y OBAMA



Cuantas muertes este ano?



USA TODAY



USA HOY 6



USA HOY 5



USA HOY 4



USA HOY 3



USA HOY 2



USA HOY (1)



Insaciable



Cronologia de un agresor



Guarimbear en USA



Mexico hoy



Bolivar y Chavez



Primero Amargado



Dios los cria y ellos se juntan



USA hoy (III)



USA hoy (II)



USA hoy



Mexico hoy



Mexico hoy



Mexico hoy



Obama



La verdad sea dicha



Los ricos



Que no nos vea Obama



Pobre Obama



SOS PALESTINA



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



VICMAN



Archivo del blog Archivo del blog marzo (4) abril (9) mayo (8) junio (10) julio (11) agosto (10) septiembre (17) octubre (11) noviembre (15) diciembre (10) enero (9) febrero (10) marzo (8) abril (5) mayo (6) junio (8) julio (13) agosto (10) septiembre (7) octubre (12) noviembre (8) diciembre (15) enero (17) febrero (11) marzo (11) abril (12) junio (6) julio (11) agosto (15) septiembre (5) octubre (15) noviembre (14) diciembre (11) enero (13) febrero (9) marzo (10) abril (8) mayo (7) junio (12) julio (12) agosto (8) septiembre (8) octubre (4) diciembre (8) enero (35) febrero (20) marzo (29) abril (19) mayo (21) junio (27) julio (21) agosto (28) septiembre (40) octubre (47) noviembre (21) diciembre (34) enero (62) febrero (81) marzo (117) abril (141) mayo (114) junio (111) julio (126) agosto (98) septiembre (160) octubre (234) noviembre (493) diciembre (319) enero (219) febrero (267) marzo (230) abril (291) mayo (347) junio (223) julio (179) agosto (191) septiembre (239) octubre (350) noviembre (406) diciembre (353) enero (284) febrero (202) marzo (274) abril (250) mayo (232) junio (251) julio (188) agosto (249) septiembre (230) octubre (178) noviembre (141) diciembre (164) enero (187) febrero (147) marzo (211) abril (190) mayo (199) junio (164) julio (162) agosto (174) septiembre (182) octubre (225) noviembre (114) diciembre (132) enero (223) febrero (147) marzo (133) abril (108) mayo (387) junio (465) julio (785) agosto (748) septiembre (485) octubre (681) noviembre (754) diciembre (805) enero (708) febrero (896) marzo (735) abril (831) mayo (723) junio (555) julio (658) agosto (619) septiembre (457) octubre (455) noviembre (295) diciembre (269) enero (534) febrero (556) marzo (205) abril (119) mayo (194) junio (255) julio (294) agosto (182) septiembre (207) octubre (340) noviembre (351) diciembre (281) enero (114) febrero (128) marzo (216) abril (195) mayo (116) junio (141) julio (182) agosto (181) septiembre (50) octubre (72) noviembre (104) diciembre (88) enero (168) febrero (102) marzo (151) abril (207) mayo (43) junio (72) julio (35) agosto (146) septiembre (54) octubre (46) noviembre (39)

Chavez Cuanto te queremos!



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!


Townsend Atelier, 301 East 11th St. in Chattanooga, announces a free public lecture, "Shape Shift," given by Massachusetts-based visual artist, Catherine Kehoe, to be held on Wednesday, Oct. 17 from 6-7 p.m.

Ms. Kehoe is a visiting instructor at Townsend Atelier and will be teaching several workshops at the Atelier in October. Although her workshops are full, her lecture is open to the public. She will talk about the development of her artwork from art school until now and things and people who have influenced her. There will also be time for Q&A.



About the Artist:



Catherine Kehoe was born in Hartford, Ct. She received her BFA in painting from Massachusetts College of Art and Design and her MFA in painting from the School of Visual Arts, Boston University.



Ms. Kehoe has received the following awards: Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship in Painting; Ballinglen Foundation Fellowship, Lillian Orlowsky and William Freed Foundation Grant; Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant; Berkshire Taconic Artists Resource Trust Grant; Massachusetts Cultural Council Finalist Grant; Blanche E. Colman Award; St. Botolph Club Foundation Grant; and the Sam and Adele Golden Foundation for the Arts Award.



Ms. Kehoe is represented by Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston.



She has been a visiting artist at Johns Hopkins University, Swarthmore College, University of Washington, Salve Regina University, Rhode Island College, Colby College, Hendrix College, George Mason University, University of Arkansas at Fort Smith and Indiana University.



Ms. Kehoe teaches painting and drawing at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. She has also taught painting workshops at Art New England (a summer workshop program of Massachusetts College of Art and Design at Bennington College), The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill, Washington Studio School, Art Workshops Boulder and Cullowhee Mountain Arts. She has also taught life drawing workshops as part of the Training the Eye course at Harvard Medical School.



Ms. Kehoe is a co-founder of Black Pond Studio in southeastern Massachusetts.
Similarly, RBC Capital Markets said "the test for Canada LNG will be whether Shell can deliver the project on the stated budget, without cost increases and on time".

He said a significant portion of the LNG Canada investment will be spent on a plant manufactured overseas, with steel sourced from other countries.

Gas traditionally sells for more in NY because it's closer to major population centres but the difference has been widening recently due to pipeline capacity constraints in Alberta and B.C.

The $40-billion LNG Canada project will have a leg up on its competition on the U.S. Gulf Coast and east coast, because of the shortened trip to customers in Asia.

Final approval for a massive liquefied natural gas project in northern British Columbia shows that major resource projects can be built in the province, the CEO of LNG Canada said Tuesday.

"I am confident the B.C. Liberals will vote in support as long as the deal that the NDP has struck is beneficial to British Columbians", said Ross.

Prince Rupert Mayor Lee Brain said in an August interview that other companies are interested in building LNG projects along the B.C. coast and there's room for at least one terminal in his town, near Canada's border with Alaska, as well as in Kitimat.

"It's irresponsible to green-light a project that's overall carbon pollution is staggering - much larger than what industry and government report - especially when there is no clear climate strategy showing how B.C. will meet its legislated carbon pollution targets", David Suzuki Foundation science and policy director Ian Bruce said in a release.

The projects are seen as just the start, with a host of other approvals - known as final investment decisions (FIDs) - expected to follow after waiting in company drawers while LNG prices recovered from a three-year slump.

Arrestan a Emily Ratajkowski por protestar contra hombre acusado de abuso

El presidente de EE.UU., Donald Trump , fue quien propuso la candidatura de ese juez para ocupar un lugar en el Tribunal Supremo norteamericano.

Bebe de 11 meses de edad, murio tras ser abusada sexualmente

El presidente de Colombia , Ivan Duque, externo su consternacion ante el asesinato de la nina y dijo que solicito a las autoridades a apresurar las investigaciones.

LG V40 ThinQ is the World's First Five-Camera Smartphone

The standout feature of this device will be the five cameras, there are triple cameras on the rear and dual cameras on the front. The camera also has a cine shot feature which lets you animate a certain part of your image, to make it more interesting.

But, for BC, the new project could mean $22 billion in revenue to the economy over the next 40 years.

By comparison, NY prices are expected to average US$3.35 for the same amount of gas in 2019, up from US$3 this year.

The province has also promised to repeal its LNG income tax and streamline how taxes are administered, saying in a statement that the current tax "has led to uncertainties hampering investment".

"Trade barriers won't be an impediment to moving forward on this project", Trudeau explained at a news conference in Vancouver.

LNG prices rose last winter and have hovered near their highest levels in four years. Federal court is expected to render a decision in the near future.

"The momentum behind LNG Canada reflects the drastic improvement in the LNG market over the past 12 months, driven by buoyant demand in China".

But First Nations along the pipeline route and at the site of the liquefaction facility sharply rebuffed the criticism, and said the project would eliminate their dependence on the government.

Energy consultancy Wood MacKenzie said it appeared the project partners had pushed hard to reach an investment decision, with rival projects being progressed in Qatar, Russia, Mozambique and the United States.
Trump rejects the report that he used the word.

In a tweet, President Trump said his wife has been well received on the continent and Africans love her. The people love her, and she loves them!

The Be Best campaign, which addresses the social well-being of children, was rolled out this year.

"I wanted to be here to see the successful programs that (the) United States is providing the children and thank you for everything you've done", the first lady said at a book donation ceremony in the school library. "It is a attractive thing to see", Trump tweeted.

Melania Trump's visit, which started in Ghana and will continue on to Kenya and Egypt, has so far attracted varied interest levels in Africa with few crowds lining streets to see her.

Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski expected to be active Thursday

The Patriots are 2-2 entering Thursday's game after beating the Dolphins 38-7 in Week 4. Edelman caught 98 passes for 1,106 yards during the 2016 regular season.

Pence acusa a China de dar "salvavidas" a Maduro con creditos

Desde comienzos del siglo XXI, China es un socio fundamental de Venezuela , que le paga gran parte de los creditos e importaciones con petroleo .

Capitan America se despide del MCU

Asi que posiblemente basandonos en esta declaracion Chris Evans decidio irse de Marvel Sudios antes de que ellos le dijeran adios. Los Vengadores 4, que se estrenara en mayo de 2019, seria la ultima pelicula donde interpretaria al personaje.

"It was very exciting".

While the first lady highlighted USAID's work in Africa, the Trump administration has been trying to cut the agency's funding.

The US First Lady will then visit the US Embassy in Nairobi wrapping up the only closed-door engagements on her Kenyan visit. "I know she's moved by what the United States is doing in Malawi", US Ambassador Virginia Palmer told reporters.

The U.S. first lady was joyously welcomed at the airport, with singing and dancing by a troupe of women and scores of schoolchildren waving African and Malawian flags. She toured a castle that housed slaves awaiting transport across the Atlantic. The first lady landed in the capital of Lilongwe on Thursday morning after a six-hour flight from Ghana.
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
Wikipedia defines the Struggle Session as "a form of public humiliation and torture that was used by the Communist Party of China in the Mao Zedong era, particularly during the Cultural Revolution, to shape public opinion and humiliate, persecute, or execute political rivals and those deemed class enemies." The article at that site further explains that Struggle Sessions were "often held at the workplace of the accused," and that "[i]n general, the victim of a struggle session was forced to admit various crimes before a crowd of people who would verbally and physically abuse the victim until he or she confessed." In the novel 1984, George Orwell called this the Two Minutes Hate.

In the case of Jared Hensley, those abusing him now have their confession and apology. According to The Chattanoogan, Mr. Hensley stated that "[i]t is heartbreaking to know that my actions have negatively affected Soddy Daisy High School and the community that I dearly love. I ask for your forgiveness and I will commit myself every day to set a positive example for young men and women as I work to regain your trust."

I hope this satisfies the media mob (traditional and social), and quiets their calls for his head. They'll need all of their energy to participate in whatever Struggle Session they hold next week.

"The horrible thing about the Two Minutes Hate was . . . [a] hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces in with a sledge hammer, seemed to flow through the whole group of people like an electric current, turning one even against one's will into a grimacing, screaming lunatic. And yet the rage that one felt was an abstract, undirected emotion which could be switched from one object to another like the flame of a blowlamp." George Orwell, 1984.

Kevin Hargis
We are making progress in education in Tennessee according to every data point, but we also have challenges, acknowledged Tennessee Commissioner of Education Candice McQueen. Dr. McQueen has been at the forefront of public education the last four years, since she replaced the unpopular and noncommunicative Kevin Huffman.

Huffman, the proverbial outsider from Washington DC, was his own worst enemy. A known Democrat, he was never embraced by the newly elected Republican majority that governed the Tennessee General Assembly. His popularity and likability never extended outside the recruits he brought into the state with him, the Governors Office or the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE). Huffman perfected the art of rubbing people the wrong way. After Governor Bill Haslam won a second term, he must have decided it was time for one of the most divisive figures in Tennessee politics to exit the stage. Enter McQueen.

In order to reverse public educations disdain, Haslam needed the antithesis of Mr. Huffman, and Candice McQueen clearly provided that to the Commissioner of Education position. McQueen was a senior vice president and dean of the college of education at Lipscomb University. McQueen had an intricate task ahead of her. She inherited many personnel who were ill-fitted to the state. Many lacked requisite experience in leadership, in the state, or in the field in which they were being relied on to provide expertise. She had to restore relationships with legislators, superintendents, school boards, educators and parents. She understood the nuances of working with the scores of special interest groups that populate the K-12 landscape. She became one of the best communicators in state government. She had to do this while providing management to arguably the most important agency in state government. It was truly an example of flying the plane while they attempt to build it.

However, the Achilles heal of her term in office has been standardized test administration. This failure is well-documented. Whether or not that is a fair accusation is debatable. She inherited some of the baggage. Nonetheless, Commissioner McQueen concedes the problems with standardized testing, including online implementation and delivery challenges. She apologized, on behalf of the Tennessee Department of Education, for the challenges and frustrations of the test administration. In addition, the state has taken specific steps to address the concerns as the state moves into the 2018-19 testing cycle. Governor Haslam and Commissioner McQueen recently engaged in a statewide listening tour to get educator input. It is yet to be determined if that effort will have any bearing on the next governor.



Here is what is certain, the next governor of Tennessee will either be Republican Bill Lee or Democrat Karl Dean. Both men, for better or worse, will inherit the responsibility of building on Haslams record in public education. The choice of Commissioner of Education will assume the overwhelming burden of ensuring that every child in Tennessee graduates from high school prepared for college or the workforce. The success or failure, of the next commissioner of Education will largely determine the success or failure of the next governor. It will be a difficult job to fill and it may be a job that nobody wants.

The next governor will want to select someone who understands public education, understands the state of Tennessee, and is capable of running the most visible agency in the state. For all the local school superintendents who wake up thinking they are up to the task, they should be reminded that the lights of Nashville burn bright and they will be living in a fishbowl. The next governor cannot afford to go outside the state to recruit a Commissioner of Education as Haslam did, after the Huffman fiasco.

The next commissioner of Education must have a vision that aligns with the new governor. They must understand the commitment they will be asked to make. Their evaluation will occur every single day by policymakers and stakeholders across the state, and often in the media. Their success only occurs when every person at a bureaucracy is working in the same direction, understanding and buying into the mission. The obstacles may seem insurmountable, and may keep you from reaching your objectives and not even be under your control. Items like contracts with vendors may be impediments to success, or a bureaucracy which stymies your objectives.

For a commissioner, the risk is having a governor who does not support your vision, which will hinder support for your management. Your resources will certainly be limited. Failure will almost certainly be associated with you personally. Financially, many school superintendents are already paid more than the commissioner of Education, and their headaches are much smaller. Those people who have the skills to perform the task are more limited than the short list of people who think they are up to the challenge.

A disruption in January for 70,000 educators and 1,000,000 students, created by a new agenda for the state, might generate many unexpected issues and unnecessary anxiety during a transition. It is something that a candidate running for office cannot readily discuss, but something that a candidate elected to office must rapidly address. It must be someone who understands our unique language in public education, our stakeholders and policymakers in K-12, and the challenges facing our state.

The question asked by many educators, would either Bill Lee or Karl Dean consider retaining Commissioner McQueen? That has to be a consideration, if she would stay. What happens when you have a job that nobody wants and few are qualified for? We are about to find out.

JC Bowman

Executive Director of Professional Educators of Tennessee
Welcome Guest! You Are Here:
John Patrick Donovan, 60, formerly of 2803 Bent Pine Dr., Ft. Pierce, Fla., was convicted Thursday evening by a Murray County Jury of two counts of cargo theft.

The jury of seven men and five women was selected on Monday and began hearing evidence on Tuesday morning. The jury heard from 11 witnesses for the state, including two special agents with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Major Theft Unit, two police investigators from the Brownsville (Texas) Police Department, and Andy Dill, formerly of the Murray County Sheriffs Office.

After hearing from the states witnesses and one witness testifying live-streaming via Facebook for the defendant, they deliberated on Thursday late afternoon for two and a half hours before returning a unanimous verdict on both counts at 7 p.m.

The trial was presided over by Superior Court Judge William T. Boyett and prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Dixon Lackey with assistance from GBI Special Agent Chelsea Stewart, the lead investigator on the case. District Attorney Investigator Kevin Caylor and Senior Victim Advocate Danielle Kean were invaluable preparing the case for trial and assuring the attendance of witnesses from several states, said officials. Donovan represented himself at the trial with Andrew Powell of the Public Defenders Office assisting him at Judge Boyetts direction.

The case began Dec. 31, 2016 when a semitrailer belonging to Sierra Transportation was stolen along with its cargo of over $160,000 worth of carpet from Mohawk Industries. The trailer without its cargo was located Jan. 19, 2017 illegally parked in Brownsville Texas along the United States---Mexico border. All of the vehicle identification information was removed from the semitrailer, and it was attached to a tractor that had been stolen from Kansas on Dec. 26, 2016.

The BPD investigator, Michael Parker, identified the trailer as belonging to Sierra Transportation through the refrigeration unit attached to it and the manufacturer of the gas tank. In the cab of the tractor, Mr. Parker located a pill bottle in Donovans name and bills of sale for the tractor and semitrailer, both dated Jan. 10, 2017. Without identifying himself, Donovan called the BPD three times to find out where the truck and trailer had been towed. The phone Donovan used for the calls was one he purchased at the Walmart Supercenter in Atalla, Al. on Jan. 2, 1017.

Toni Smith, with Asset Protection for the Walmart, secured the surveillance footage of Donovan purchasing the telephone and and an RCA tablet at the store and leaving in a tractor-trailer.

Donovan had four cellphones in his possession when he was arrested by GBI agents March 22, 2017 at Fulton County Airport west of Atlanta. The data from this phone and for two others in Donovans possession when he was arrested were analyzed by GBI Special Agent Graham Rusk, and showed Donovan had called Sierra Transportation twice on Dec. 30, 2016, had canceled a reservation he made at the Hampton Inn in Dalton for Dec. 31, 2016, and made numerous calls to Donovans mother. The phone records also established that Donovan was in the general area around the time of the theft.

Judge Boyett set sentencing for Nov. 14, 2018 when Donovan faces up to 20 years imprisonment for each count and a minimum fine of at least $50,000 on each count.

Donovan has prior felony convictions from Alabama, Kentucky, and Florida which the state plans to present in evidence at the sentencing hearing.
Russian lawyer turns to ECHR over Professional Ethics Code

 RIA Novosti

14:55 05/10/2018

MOSCOW, October 5 (RAPSI)  Attorney Igor Trunov has filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) challenging Russias Professional Ethics Code of Lawyers, he has told RAPSI.

Trunov claims that provisions of the Professional Ethics Code discords with the principle of legal certainty and allows to bring lawyers to liability for actions not related to their professional duties.

The attorney earlier lodged lawsuits with Russian courts demanding to declare the Professional Ethics Code inoperative.

According to Trunov, the Professional Ethics Code and the Rules of Lawyers Conduct fail to meet the Federal Law On Legal Practice and Advocacy in the Russian Federation and contain provisions contradicting with the principle of legal certainty and leading to corruption and abused discretion.

Legal examination of the Codes compliance with the Russian legislation and anti-corruption examination are necessary, he stated.

However, his claims were dismissed.

The lawyer believes that Russian courts have violated Article 6 (Right to a fair trial) and Article 10 (Right to freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Trunov began challenging the Ethics Code after his disbarment in September 2016. The lawyer viewed the decision to disbar him as strange and unexpected because the Association had recognized his public activity as a disciplinary case. I have spoken at a news conference about problems existing in the society, specifically about corruption in the bar. This particular speech at a public venue was declared a disciplinary case by the Counsel on the base of the Professional Code of Conduct. But the Code has never regulated public activities. Thats why I think, this decision has a political component, Trunov said earlier.

In December 2016, Moscows Lefortovsky District Court overturned the Moscow Regional Bar Associations decision on disbarment of Trunov and ordered restoration of his attorney status.
Final charges brought against ex-receiver in charge of Rosneft subsidiaries

 RIA Novosti, Natalya Seliverstova

10:59 05/10/2018

MOSCOW, October 5 (RAPSI)  Investigators have brought final charges against Oleg Smetanin, the former bankruptcy commissioner of several Rosneft subsidiaries, as part of a criminal case over embezzlement of 300 million rubles ($4.4 million), the defendants attorney Eduard Geraskin has told RAPSI.

Smetanin and Geraskin will begin to get acquainted with the case documents soon.

According to investigators, Smetanin and other defendant in the case Sergey Bogdanov have forged some documents; as a result, a paper debt amounting to 3.2 billion rubles (about $ 7 million) has been registered with a Rosneft subsidiary. According to Russias Interior Ministry press-service, the defendants have used the forged documents to transfer 300 million rubles to the accounts of a dummy company. The money was allegedly cashed out and stolen.

Smetanin denied wrongdoing.

In December 2013, a court declared Nizhnevartovskneftegaz bankrupt with Smetanin being appointed as a temporary manager of the company. In 2014, a debt of 3.5 billion rubles ($52.3 million) was added to the companys creditors demands list. Investigators believe the documents related to the debt have been forged.
One man's odyssey through the world of books
WHEN LOVE COMES TO TOWN

U2 mixed the blues and the gospel - rock and roll and B. B. King - to create a genre-bending sound that honored tradition while creating something new. My sense is that the holy continues to break through our popular culture in startling but creative ways if we have eyes to see and ears to hear. John O'Donohue writes: "Beauty does not linger, it only visits. Yet beauty's visitation affects us and invites us into its rhythm, it call us to feel, think and act beautiful." More than ever before I sense that this era cries out for a spirituality of tenderness in small, real ways that touch our ordinary lives. Artist Anita Rolls gets it right with "Jesus on the Tube."
Lee Universitys Dr. Michael Ray Smith, professor of public relations, recently spoke at a writing workshop for Magazine Training International in Nairobi, Kenya.

The attendees of the workshops spent more than a week at Christian Organizations Research and Advisory Trust of Africa conference center. MTI president, Sharon Mumper, invited Dr. Smith, an MTI board member, to conduct the research and help with the training.

MTI, a Colorado Springs-based ministry, conducted a series of focus groups to learn about the needs of African publishers, editors, and writers. Dr. Smith led the focus groups that probed participants on their varied obstacles, such as running a business, scarcity of resources, recruiting readers, and retaining high-quality talent who share the gospel mission of publishing for a popular audience.

To help the participants overcome these obstacles, MTI used volunteer trainers like Dr. Smith to teach business and management principles. Workshops on layout, design, and working with a digital product were also available. Dr. Smith taught on feature writing ideas and gave participants a free download of one of his eight books.

Olaitan Olubiyi, of Redemption Light Magazine, attended one of the focus groups and the feature writing training. He noted that he learned ideas on improving his denominational publication while gaining ideas on helping writers succeed in preparing for interviews and other aspects of the writing process.

"MTI participants said that training by journalism and communication professors, even ones from faith-based African universities, did not have the same heartbeat for the faith that MTI has exhibited since it began in 1989," said Dr. Smith, who has taught journalism for more than 30 years.

Joining Lees faculty in 2016, Dr. Smith has taught for more than three decades at state and private universities at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Similarly to his work in Kenya, Dr. Smith has spoken at many academic and professional conferences, including the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. He has also worked in multiple mainstream newspapers, such as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Dr. Smith received his doctorate from Regent University, his masters from Shippensburg University, and his bachelors from the University of Maryland.

MTI is a non-profit mission whose passion is to see lives changed as vital Christian magazines in the developing world make an impact for Christ on their communities and nations. MTI has provided consulting help and organized nearly 50 conferences on every facet of magazine publishing.

The book Dr. Smith gave out at the workshops, Timeless Feature Story Ideas in an Online World, is available for free download at https://www.dropbox.com/s/y77k3pl3vetwcfg/Smith_freeresource-featurewriting.pdf?dl=0.
 Third Circuit going en banc to reconsider reach and application of Eighth Amendment to lengthy juvenile term-of-years sentence | Main | En banc Eleventh Circuit finds way to uphold key clause of  924(c) mandatory-minimum statute against vagueness challenge 

Released today is this 300+-page report that should be of interest to anyone who follows the federal criminal justice system. The report is titled simply 2017 Report of the Ad Hoc Committee to Review the Criminal Justice Act, and here are some excerpts from the report's executive summary:

This Committee was tasked to study one of the most fundamental of rights in America, the right of an accused person to legal counsel. Enshrined in the Constitution under the Sixth Amendment, the right to assistance of counsel is a pillar of our adversarial system of justice and our government....

Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts, Jr. tasked this Committee with studying the current quality of public defense in federal courts nationwide provided under the auspices of the Criminal Justice Act  groundbreaking legislation passed in 1963 and expanded in 1970. That the United States has a fully developed system of public defense at the federal level is evidence of considerable progress in making the Sixth Amendment right to counsel real in practice.... While it has been decades since people charged with crimes  in many cases facing life-altering punishments  faced prosecutor, judge and jury alone, representation by a skilled and devoted advocate with sufficient resources to mount a vigorous defense is far from guaranteed. Indeed, the quality of defense appears to be highly uneven across the country and from case to case within districts.

Fully 90 percent of defendants in federal court cannot afford to hire their own attorney. Justice in their cases, and indeed the future course of their lives, depends on the quality of the system that provides lawyers to represent them. The subject of the Committees Report is the examination of that systems successes and failures, as well as a course of action for improving it....

It was only in studying the federal defender system as a whole and hearing from witnesses across the country that the members of this Committee have come to the unanimous conclusion that despite the best efforts of all parties involved in delivering effective representation under the Sixth Amendment, the current structure for providing public defense results in disparities in the quality of representation that have serious consequences for some defendants. The Committee hopes its report illuminates the scope and nature of these problems and underlying structural flaws from which they arise  and makes a persuasive case for meaningful change.
In September the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT) conducted a slew of promotional activities in foreign markets to attract international holiday makers.



Also this month the agency held tourism promotion activities for the first time in Canada on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic ties.

Vietnams destinations, tourism products, and services were introduced to Canadians.

The VNAT plans to team up with the US Travel Association and the Hanoi Promotion Agency to organise a tourism promotion programme in Washington DC and New York.

The US has remained one of Vietnams top five tourism markets with the number of visitors from that country exceeding 614,000 in 2017, an 11 percent increase from the previous year.

In the first eight months of this year Vietnam had welcomed 486,000 American nationals.

VNS
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying's Remarks on US Leader's Unfounded Accusations on Taiwan-related and Other Issues

2018/10/05

Q: US Vice President Mike Pence in his October 4th speech also levelled accusations against China on issues related to Taiwan, the South China Sea, human rights and religion, which interfered in China's internal affairs. What is your comment?

A: There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inseparable part of China. The US has no right at all to pick on relevant countries who chose to develop relations with China on the basis of the one-China principle. "Taiwan independence" forces and their separatist activities pose the gravest threat to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. We urge the US to earnestly abide by the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three China-US Joint Communiques, prudently and properly handle Taiwan-related issues, and work with China in opposing and restraining "Taiwan independence" forces while bearing in mind the larger picture of China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

China has indisputable sovereignty over the South China Sea islands and their adjacent waters. Installing necessary national defense facilities on the Nansha Islands which are our territory is China exercising its right of self-preservation and self-defense as a sovereign state in accordance with international law. It has nothing to do with "militarization". We urge the US to stop stirring up troubles and creating tensions. The US should respect efforts made by relevant parties to resolve the issue through negotiation and consultation.

The Chinese government attaches high importance to protecting and promoting human rights. People of all ethnic groups in China are entitled to full freedom of religious belief in accordance with law. As to how China's human rights record is, the Chinese people have a greater say than all others. Our advice for the US is to buy itself a mirror and take a look at itself, and spend more time thinking about its own human rights problems, instead of exploiting human rights and religious issues to interfere in China's internal affairs.
An 18-member delegation from Japans Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund (K.N.C.F.) yesterday visited the environmental awareness site they are funding through Conservation International in Manono uta.

K.N.C.F. was set up by the Keidanren Committee on Nature Conservation (K.C.N.C.), which is Japans largest business federation, to support conservation work done by non-government and civil society organisations mainly in the Asia Pacific region.

The organisation rolled out its funding programme in six countries, which included Bhutan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, and New Caledonia, with Samoa being the only country the delegation is visiting this year.

Keidanren works in partnership with Conservation International (C.I.) Samoa and it is going onto its second year now.

Country Director Conservation International Japan, Yasu Hibi, told the Samoa Observer that they were in Samoa to get an update on the project and see how Samoans live in harmony with nature.

The delegation is here to see the progress of the project they are funding, and also in general to learn more about Samoa, the life and culture, especially how people are living with nature, he said.

This is the first time for a delegation from the Keidanren to visit Samoa, according to Mr. Hibi.

We are interested in learning how Samoans are coping and living in harmony with nature, which is a concept that really resonates with traditional Japanese way of living, not really anymore, but we still have that in our hearts, and I think Japanese people, including the Keidanren, really want to see where we can share with the Samoan people on how we can live in harmony with nature.

The delegation also wishes to learn more about some of the emerging environmental issues like plastic waste issues, which is a global problem, in Samoa as well, and also how Samoa is coping with emerging environmental issues including climate change, seeing first-hand the impact of climate change here and how Samoa is coping with it, he added.

Mr. Hibi said their project involves both terrestrial and marine, but in Samoa it focuses more on conserving marine resources.

Samoa has a lot more impact on the marine environment than terrestrial, although terrestrial is still important. But it is small compared to the vast size of the marine you have under Samoas control, so its important to take care of the marine environment.

Theres also a growing recognition, interest from the international society on how to manage the marine environment, resources sustainably and again Samoa and the entire Pacific region has a great potential to take global leadership in managing the marine resources, which not just helps Samoa and the Pacific. But really helps the entire planet, climate change wise, food security, he said.

Mr. Hibi said Samoa needs to maintain its lush green landscape because it benefits the people, community, marine environment and the economy, especially the next generation.

It has a lot of benefits that we dont normally recognise, like absorbing water, keeping the soil strong, and controlling climate.

Mr. Hibi indicated that the partnership between Keidanren Nature Conservation Fund and C.I. Samoa would be extended.
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.
BALTIMORE (October 04, 2018)As many as 260,000 Maryland residents could see higher premiums or lose their health care coverage altogether because of pre-existing medical conditions, age or gender under a new Trump administration legal strategy, state Democrats warned on Tuesday.



Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Baltimore, along with other Democratic members of the Maryland congressional delegation and state Attorney General Brian Frosh attacked the Trump administration for refusing to protect Americans guaranteed the right to health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.



The protections, the Democrats argued, are of the utmost importance and won't be invalidated without a legal fight.



"We're better than that," Cummings said. "We're a better country than that."



In June, Attorney General Jeff Sessions wrote in a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., that the Justice Department would not defend key provisions of the health care law, a regular target of attacks by President Donald Trump and repeal efforts by congressional Republicans.



Cummings released a report by the Democratic staff of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that detailed potential impacts of such a policy on Marylanders. Frosh is among more than a dozen attorneys general challenging Sessions's decision in federal court.



"Even more troubling, they did not offer any alternative," Cummings said at a press conference.



He was flanked by Frosh, Maryland Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, and Reps. Dutch Ruppersberger of Timonium and John Sarbanes of Towson. All are Democrats.



Trump has largely moved to defund the ACA since taking office, scaling back federal funding from $62.5 million in 2016 to just $10 million this year.



But Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar has challenged attacks on Trump's handling of the health care law.



"The president trying to sabotage the (Affordable Care Act) is proving better at managing it than the president who wrote the law," Azar said during a Sept. 27 speech in Nashville, The Washington Examiner reported.



Under the new Trump policy, 167,000 Marylanders with pre-existing conditions could lose coverage or face hikes in premiums, the Democrats' study estimated. Of those, 79,000 have such severe pre-existing conditions that insurance carriers could deny them any coverage.



Up to 160,000 Maryland women could be charged more than men for the same health care coverage, the report said. Such discrimination was barred by the health care law.



In addition, up to 108,000 older Maryland residents could be charged more, according to the report.



Maryland workers in higher-risk occupations also could lose protections: 19,000 construction workers, 9,700 shipping clerks and 4,800 emergency medical technicians.



"Defending the Affordable Care Act will affect the lives of Marylanders and people all over this country," Cardin said. "It's critically important that the American people understand what's at stake when the president does not defend the Affordable Care Act."



A Kaiser Family Foundation poll released in September showed that 50 percent of adults held a favorable view of the ACA. Forty percent held an unfavorable view. Another Kaiser poll found that 75 percent of people polled said it was "very important" that the ACA's protections for people with pre-existing conditions ensuring guaranteed coverage remains law.



"When the Trump Administration decided not to defend the law  they've given a green light to all those who want to undo that protection through the courts," Van Hollen said.



Trump, who said during his campaign that he wanted to put somebody on the Supreme Court who would help overturn the ACA, has done just that in nominating Brett Kavanaugh. In 2011, Kavanaugh was the dissenter in a 2-1 federal appeals court ruling on the constitutionality of the ACA's individual mandate provision.



Cummings said the administration's hostility to the health care law has caused unease even among government attorneys.



"Their actions are so indefensible," Cummings said, "that three of four career attorneys representing the government withdrew from the case rather than sign their names on the brief. One attorney even resigned."



Joel McElvain and two other lawyers withdrew from the case this summer; he later resigned. All three worked on a lawsuit brought by Texas and other Republican-led states that challenges the constitutionality of the ACA and is likely to find its way to the Supreme Court.
Egyptian filmmaker Sam Abbas has recently kick-started a production company named ArabQ Films, where he makes movies with LGBT themes.

His newest movie is The Wedding, which is about a secretly gay man marrying a woman. It will be screened in select theatres in the U.S. this December, but will also be airing in Egypt itself, where the screenings are in secret and only accessible through invitation to protect the viewers.

The Middle East, especially Egypt, is not LGBTQ friendly, Abbas told Reuters. It is so bad that you can get targeted for just being friends with, or associated with the LGBTQ community.

Homosexuality isnt explicitly illegal in Egypt, but is targeted under anti-debauchery laws. Any solidarity with the community is discouraged  dozens of people were detained after raising a rainbow flag during a rock concert last year.

The film to me, more than anything, is about repression and alienation  hopefully it will show individuals of the community that they are not alone, Abbas said.
A gay kindergarten teacher in China was fired after making a social media post about an LGBT pride event he attended, but he isnt going down without a lawsuit.

The anonymous man said the school principal told him that parents may not like their children being taught by a gay man, which made him feel grave apprehension for the way Chinese youth are being raised against the LGBT community. He was fired without receiving pay for his 10 percent stake in the school, and is suing to be reimbursed and rehired, he told Reuters.

His lawyer, Tang Xiangqian, said this case is the first of its kind in China.

The main reason we filed this case is not just as a labor dispute but to make the gay community more visible to a wider group of people. To let more people realize that they can easily be victims of discrimination," he said.
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 picture shows the galaxy cluster XLSSC 006. This composite image results from the combination of smoothed X-ray data from the XXL survey (purple) together with optical and infrared observations from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope.

Recent observations create a puzzle for astrophysicists: since the big bang, less galaxy clusters have formed over time than was actually expected.

Physicists from the university of Bonn have now confirmed this phenomenon. For the next three years, the researchers will analyze their data in even greater detail. This will put them in a position to confirm whether the theories considered valid today need to be reworked. The study is part of a series of 20 publications which appear in the professional journal "Astronomy and Astrophysics".

Nearly 13.8 billion years ago, the big bang marked the beginning of our universe. It created space and time, but also all the matter of which our universe consists today. From then on, space expanded at a terrifying rate and so did the diffuse fog in which the matter was nearly evenly distributed.

But not completely: at some places the fog was a little bit denser than in others. As a result, these regions exerted a slightly stronger gravitational pull and slowly attracted material from their surroundings. Over time, matter concentrated more and more within these condensation points. At the same time, the space between them gradually became emptier. Over 13 billion years, this resulted in the formation of a sponge-like structure: big "holes" devoid of matter, separated by small areas within which thousands of galaxies agglomerate - the galaxy clusters.

Six parameters explain the whole universe

The standard model of cosmology describes this history of the universe, from the first seconds after the big bang to the current day. The beauty of it: the model manages to explain, with only six parameters, everything we know today about the birth and evolution of the Universe. Nonetheless, the model may now have reached its limits. New observational evidences point to the fact that the matter is distributed today in a different way than the theory predicts", explains Dr. Florian Pacaud from the Argelander-Institut fur Astronomie of the University of Bonn.

It all started with the measurements of the Planck satellite, which was launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) to measure the cosmic background radiation. This radiation is, to some extent, an afterglow of the big bang. It conveys crucial information on the matter distribution in the early universe; showing the distribution as it was only 380.000 years after the big bang.

According to the Planck measurements, this initial distribution was such that, over cosmic time, more galaxy clusters should have formed than we observe today. We have measured with an X-ray satellite the number of galaxy clusters at different distances from ourselves", explains Dr. Pacaud. The idea behind it: the light from remote galaxy clusters has traveled for billions of years before reaching us, and so we observe them today as they were when the universe was still young. Nearby clusters, on the contrary, are observed as they appeared much more recently.

Our measurements confirm that the clusters formed too slowly", said Dr. Pacaud. We have estimated to which extent this result conflicts with the basic predictions of the standard model." While there is a large discrepancy between the measurements and predictions, the statistical uncertainty in the present study is not yet tight enough to really put into question the theory. However, the researchers expect to obtain substantially more constraining results from the same project within the next three years. This will finally reveal whether the standard model needs to be revised.

The dark energy - a constant?

The study also supplies a glimpse into the nature of the dark energy. This mysterious constituent of the Universe acts as a kind of interstellar baking powder which cause the cosmic expansion to accelerate. The "amount" of dark energy - the cosmological constant - should have stayed the same since the big bang; or so assumes the standard model of cosmology. Many observations seem to point in this direction. Our measurement also supports this thesis", explains Dr. Pacaud. But here again we shall obtain more precise results in a near future."

###

The study is a part of a large-scale project with the appropriate name of 'XXL Survey', in which more than 100 scientists all around the globe cooperate. The 20 new publications from the collaboration, gathered in a special issue of Astronomy & Astrophysics, only provide a taste of the project's full power. The current analysis is based on a sample of 365 clusters, from which (so far) only 200 are used for the statistical analyses. By the end of the project - planed for 2020 - this database will double to some 400 to 500 clusters. Details can be found under http://irfu.cea.fr/xxl. An ESA press release associated with the 20 publications can also be found on the net: http://sci.esa.int/xmm-newton/60686.

Publication: F. Pacaud et al.: The XXL Survey XXV. Cosmological analysis of the C1 cluster number counts; Astronomy and Astrophysics; Internet: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201834022

Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
More than 30 unionized employees at Shoreline Slots at Kawartha Downs are calling on Premier Doug Ford to honour a campaign promise to keep slot machines operating at the facility.

These are the same employees who werent offered jobs at the new Shorelines Casino Peterborough, which could open as soon as later this month.

"He said removal of the slots from racetracks was a big mistake that he is going to reverse," stated SEIU business agent Ted Mansell. "Well Mr. Ford, Kawartha Downs is losing their slots and with it, over 70 racetrack jobs so important to these employees and their community. Where's your promise when we need it the most?"

A story in todays Peterborough Examiner reports a number of the slot machines at Kawartha Downs have already made their way to the new site and remaining ones are expected to be shipped to Toronto.

"With the province's dairy industry already in turmoil because of the new United States-Canada trade deal, we can't afford to lose jobs at Ontario's slots at race tracks that Ford promised he would preserve and restore," Mansell added. "Doug Ford's popular boast of 'a promise made is a promise kept' is ringing pretty hollow."

"Shorelines Slots at Kawartha Downs has offered its own team members, approximately 130 people, positions at the new Shorelines Casino Peterborough facility; however, Kawartha Downs staff who are employed by a different company have been encouraged to apply for positions that may be suitable for them based on their skill and experience," said general manager Bryan Buchanan.
A final bid of $200,000 for the trotting filly Muzzle The Yakker proved to be the biggest bid of Thursday evenings third session of the Lexington Selected Yearling Sale.

Reijo Liljendahl signed the sales slip on Hip 323 Muzzle The Yakker, a daughter of Explosive Matter out of the Angus Hall mare Baileys Breeze  a half-sister to Casual Breeze (1:53.1 - $1,347,330).

Among the Canadian buyers was Mel Hartman, who shelled out $130,000 to nab Hip 335 Creature Of Habit. The daughter of Donato Hanover-Habits Best is a half-sister to Habitat (1:53 - $1,294,870).

Ecurie CSL of Quebec also spent $130,000 to take home Hip 376 Barney Google. The son of Artspeak is the first foal out of Oogle Google, a half-sister to Nikki Beach (1:50 - $473,951).

Session 3 of the sale saw the hammer of the auctioneer fall on 162 yearlings, with those youngsters accounting for total sales of $6,756,000 for an average price of $41,704.

Ontario sires were well represented in the ring with sons and daughters of Kadabra (10 in total) being the most popular of the Ontario-sired offerings. Muscle Mass (6), Bettors Delight (5), Mach Three (3), Sportswriter (3) and Shadow Play (3) were among the Ontario sires with three or more yearlings offered in the third session.

The sale, held as usual at the Fasig-Tipton Pavilion in Lexington, Ky., continues though Saturday (Oct. 6), with the next session slated for Friday (Oct. 5) at 7 p.m.

Click here for complete sale results.
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Submit
A comprehensive search of news sources by the U.S. National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health has determined that there were at least 259 people killed between 2011 and 2017 in accidents that were directly related to taking selfies.



Almost three out of four victims were male, and the majority were involved in risky behavior at the time of their deaths. The highest number of incidents happened in India, followed by Russia, the United States, and Pakistan.



India, May 2016: A 15-year-old boy from Pathankot died after he accidentally shot himself with his father's revolver while taking a selfie with the gun pointed at his head.

The study notes that "selfie" was named Word of the Year by the Oxford Dictionary in 2013, and estimated the number of selfies taken by people between the ages of 18 and 24 to be about one million per day. That has only increased.

The study excluded people who died while talking or texting on cellphones; only deaths directly involved in taking selfies were included, and only incidents cross-referenced in "prepared" news sources were included.

Russia, January 2015: Two young men died in the Ural Mountains after they pulled the pin from a live hand grenade to take a selfie. The phone with the picture remained as evidence of the circumstance of their deaths.

The study says, "It is believed that selfie deaths are underreported...for example, certain road accidents while posing for selfies are reported as death due to Road Traffic Accident. Thus, the true magnitude of problem is underestimated. It is therefore important to assess the true burden, causes, and reasons for selfie deaths so that appropriate interventions can be made."

Serbia, April 2015: A 22-year-old man was trying to recreate a scene from his favorite movie Barking at the Stars by running in front of a train, beating it and being hailed a hero. As he ran in front of the train, he tried to take a selfie to document the scene. He was killed instantly when the express train hit him at full speed in the village of Lacarak near the northern Serbian town of Sremska Mitrovica.

The leading causes of death while taking selfies are drowning, accidents involving forms of transport, and falls. Electrocutions are also a major cause.

Italy, June 2014: A 16-year-old girl died in Taranto after plunging 60 feet onto rocks while she was trying to take a photograph of herself on the seafront.

"Attempting to take a selfie" is never reported as the cause of death.

The study's conclusion is that "No Selfie Zones" should be declared in places known to be dangerous to decrease the incidence of selfie-related deaths.

Personally, it seems to me that public awareness would be a better strategy, because "No Selfie Zone" signs would be easy to ignore, and there are too many places where people can get into trouble engaging in risky, distracted activity. Also, some of the danger is related to reckless behavior rather than hazardous surroundings. We photographers know how difficult it is to concentrate on making a picture while paying close attention to our subjects, and we can help convey that to inexperienced snapshooters.

The bottom line is that it's actually not easy to take a selfie and do something dangerous at the same time. You have to concentrate on what you're doing. Which makes it easier to be less aware of what's happening around you and other sources of peril.

Best solution? The traditional one: in iffy situations, use a photographer. That is, get someone else to take the picture. People shouldn't do it themselves. They should concentrate on where they are and what they're doing, and let a photographer concentrate on taking the picture.

Mike

(Inset examples from Wikipedia. No "last

selfies" were used to illustrate this post in

consideration of the privacy of families.)



[UPDATE Saturday: I won't allow any more scornful, derisive, dismissive, or "Darwin Award" type comments. Keep in mind that compassion is an essential element of our spiritual fitness. Imagine if it happened to your child, your brother, your childhood best friend. Ed.]

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:

Arg: "I disagree with the sentiment of some, that it is not the selfie but the 'dangerous thing' that is lethal. I disagree because many people don't want to do the 'dangerous thing' unless there is a selfie taken to record it happening. Plus, of course, doing the 'dangerous thing' one-handed, while putting all your attention into the other hand, is not just twice as dangerous, but more like 200X more dangerous. I therefore conclude that it is indeed the selfies that are lethal."

Mike replies: I agree. I think the salient insight we photographers have to offer is what you point out in your third sentence. I know that when I am intent on the viewfinder, at least two-thirds of my attention is concentrated on that.

My first smartphone had a driving app that just gave visuals, no audible directions. I tried to drive while checking the route on the screen...once. I never did it again. The screen drew so much of my attention that I immediately began driving just like I was drunk. Concentrating on taking a phone picture of a dynamic, changing subject while also concentrating on your safety in a perilous situation is about like making yourself instantly drunk, in terms of impairing your ability to concentrate on the danger.

D. Hufford: "Well, I think it has all been pretty much said here. The first rule is don't do stupid, dangerous things no matter who is taking the photo. But I especially want to comment on the pointing a of an unloaded firearm at ones head. Don't. Never. Ever. No matter if you checked the gun to see if it is loaded or not. No matter how familiar you are with the firearm. One of the basic rules of firearms safety is to never point one at anything you do not intend to shoot. That means 'unloaded' or not.

"To simplify that, never point a firearm at something that you are not willing to destroy if it goes off.

"Back in my military days, we had lots of city boys and others not familiar with firearms or firearms safety who thought it was funny to point unloaded firearms at their own heads or at someone else during training. Fortunately, the instructors, upon seeing this, would take the young innocents aside and, without so much as a trigger warning, kindly explain to them why they should never ever do that and if they did do so ever again in their #$@*&% miserable little lives they would wish it had been loaded when they pointed it at themselves. And those instructors were kind compared to my old man.

"Don't play with firearms, loaded or 'unloaded.' Lots of people have been killed with unloaded firearms. Never point one at anything that you are not willing to destroy."

Mike replies: At the suggestion of Craig, who commented yesterday, I read a few paragraphs about the death of guitarist Terry Kath of the '70s group "Chicago." More people might want to read it; it's vivid.

marcin wuu: "Actually, if I saw a sign proclaiming a 'No Selfie Zone,' I'd be more than certain to take a selfie instantly, even though I'm normally not prone to those. And I'd do my best to keep the sign in frame. And I'm sure I wouldn't be the only one."

Mike replies: Made me laugh. Makes me want to post a "No Selfies Allowed" sign outside my window...with the writing helpfully at head height. I'll bet people would stop all Summer long.

I've mentioned before that there's a freeway road sign in Wisconsin that says "Bong Recreation Area." At the bottom of the next exit there's a gas station, and the woman working there told me she gets people coming in all day long asking things like "Did I just see what I thought I saw?" Half of them want to know how to get back to the sign so they can take their pictures standing under it. (The recreation area is named for Richard Ira Bong, the top U.S. fighter ace in WWII.)

When I see signs in museums that say "No Photography," I usually have to take pictures of them....
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.
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.
Left:Left: Ezra Pompey, driver of the vehicle, is convinced about what caused the accident. Right:Archbishop Frank Simon, one of two fatalities, would be mourned by the Spiritual Baptist Diocese of SVG.





Ezra Pompey, the driver of the Suzuki Escudo (jeep) that was involved in a fatal accident in Gordon Yard, North Leeward, September 30, has deemed the major contributing reason for the accident as "brakes failure.





Last Sunday, Laverne Pompey-Young, a 50-year-old mother of two from Chapmans, and Spiritual Baptist Archbishop, Rt. Rev. Frank Simon, 60 years old, died on the spot after the jeep in which they were travelling, went over an embankment and fell hundreds of feet down a precipice, between Belle Isle and Gordon Yard.

Ezra, 35-year-old father of two and nephew of Laverne, and the other passenger Philmena Tittle, an employee with Randys Supermarket, survived.





In an interview with THE VINCENTIAN on Tuesday from his









hospital bed, Ezra disclosed that it was a regular thing for him to "transport Aunt Laverne and me good friend Pastor Simon to different events like funerals, and recalled that "before last Sunday, me had tek dem to Sandy Bay.





Tittle, he said, would join them whenever she "didnt have ah ride.





Recalling last Sunday





Ezra has a vivid recollection of what happened on that Sunday.





He picked up his aunt in Chapmans, Archbishop Simon at the Mesopotamia Police Station, then Tittle in Kingstown, and off they went, heading for Chateaubelair.





Archbishop Simon, with his seat belt secured as he always did, sat in the front, Laverne behind him, and Tittle behind the driver.





Tittle asked that the radio be tuned to a station that was carrying a Christian programme . "We dey listening to the programme going down, everything ok , brakes normal, said Pompey.





It was, according to Ezra, "a smooth ride until the descent after the Belle Isle Correctional Facility.

"When me reach de third corner and me cover the brakes and put de jeep in second (gear), when me look fo do so, the brakes go straight in, so me pump it two times, still nothing. Me put it in low gear and it pick up speed, Ezra related.





He recalled trying to "bank de jeep, but it bounce off de retaining wall along the road, went up into the air and started rolling over.





He added, "When de jeep roll over de third time, me hear a voice say hold on tight, and that is it, the vehicle started rolling further down.





Finding his aunt





He said that when the jeep came to a stop, he noted that only Tittle and he remained in the vehicle.

Even though he said he feared that the vehicle would "ketch fire, he went in search of his aunt.





He found her in a sitting but motionless position, leaning on a cocoa tree. Four of her teeth were stuck to her chin, blood was oozing from her nose and mouth, and her face was also swollen.





"Me realise me aunt was dead, and me lay down next to she and start to bawl, said Pompey.

He remembered persons coming to their assistance and he and Tittle being transported first to the Spring Village Clinic and then to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital.





Pompey said he didnt get to see the pastor after the accident, but while at the Spring Village clinic, he was told the pastor had died.





On hindsight, Ezra said, "If me had any sign dat something was going to happen, me wouldnt ah move the jeep from home. Me custom to take them anyway, she (Lavern) and the Pastor. I would ah tell dem the vehicle nar work, but once the vehicle working I never say no to them. If the vehicle nar work, she and the pastor would give me money to fix it. I wish I would have lost my life and she stay alive.

Tittle suffered minor injuries and was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday. Pompey suffered a broken finger and is having problems moving his left foot.

But the biggest pain inflicted is knowing that their friends are dead.
Myanmar's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation on Thursday burnt confiscated elephant ivory and wildlife parts in capital city Nay Pyi Taw to combat illegal wildlife trade.

Confiscated elephant tusks are burnt during the destruction ceremony of confiscated elephant ivory and wildlife parts in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, October 4, 2018. [Photos: Xinhua]

The authorities ceremonially destroyed 1.3 million U.S. dollars worth of seized wildlife parts, including 277 ivory, 227 elephant and other wildlife's bones, 45 pieces of different wildlife skins, 1,544 different horns, 45.5 kilograms of pangolin scales and 128 varieties of other wildlife parts.

"It is crucial to sustainably conserve our country's natural resources including land, water, forest, mountain and wildlife for the sake of our future generation. We designate and establish protected areas for biodiversity conservation," Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation U Ohn Win said at the ceremony.

Confiscated elephant tusks to be burnt are seen during the destruction ceremony of confiscated elephant ivory and wildlife parts in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, October 4, 2018. [Photos: Xinhua]

Meanwhile, 42 protected areas which account for 5.79 percent of total country area had been designated so far in Myanmar, the minister added.

In accordance with the section 19 of conservation of biodiversity and protected areas law established in May this year, wildlife protection have been distinguished in three levels -- totally protected, normally protected and seasonally protected species.

Confiscated elephant tusks to be burnt are seen during the destruction ceremony of confiscated elephant ivory and wildlife parts in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, October 4, 2018. [Photos: Xinhua]

Species including elephant, tiger, leopard, gaur, bear, golden deer, pangolin are included in the list of totally protected species.

In accordance with the law, one can be sentenced to at least three to 10 years of imprisonment and fine if one kills or injures the animals in the lists of totally protected species and collects or trade their parts.
Left: Ophthalmologist Dr. Jarleis Llamas examining a patient at the Barrouallie Primary School. Right:Children who attended the day camp at Evesham.

Beverly Regisford-Henry, president of the Brooklyn, New York-based Vincentian American Adventist Association (VAAA), says the group recently conducted a successful mission to St. Vincent and the Grenadines.





"The mission trip could be described as successful and rewarding, the Simon-born Regisford-Henry told THE VINCENTIAN in an exclusive interview over the weekend, about VAAAs second mission to her native country.





"Many residents expressed gratitude for the assistance they received, she added. "The Vincentian American Adventist Association is grateful for the opportunity to give back to its homeland.





Regisford-Henry quoted Hebrews 13:16 (ESV) in alluding to the mission: "Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.





"The VAAA will like to express thanks to all those who contributed in one way or the other to the success of its 2018 mission trip, she said.





Regisford-Henry said VAAA, in partnership with the local Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Health Professionals, held health fairs at Adelphi in South Windward and Barrouallie in Central Leeward.

She said the medical team, which provided services at the health fairs, included a dentist and dental hygienist, two ophthalmologists, an ear nose and throat specialist, a psychiatrist, and three general practitioners.

"The doctors were supported by a very efficient and hardworking team of nurses, Regisford-Henry said, disclosing that over 250 patients were seen.

In addition to providing dental cleaning to many nationals, she said the dental team performed over 40 extractions.

Other activities

A one-day summer day camp was also held at Evesham in the Marriaqua Valley, at which 89 children, ages 5 to 12, participated.





Regisford-Henry said each child was given a back-pack with school supplies at the end of the programme, and that all children between the ages of 9 and 12 also received a copy of the book, "The Compleat Tween, by Nancy Van Pelt.





Members of the mission visited the St. Benedicts Childrens Home (orphanage) in Georgetown, North Central Windward, where gifts were presented to residents and staff, and a monetary gift made towards its building expansion programme.





In addition, Regisford-Henry said VAAA "provided assistance in other tangible ways.

Wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, adult pampers and a medical bed were presented to individuals and institutions; care packages of food items and toiletries were distributed in various communities; several items of clothing, towels, curtains and bed linens were also distributed; a barrel with cleaning supplies and toiletries was donated to the Mental Health Rehabilitation Center in Glen.





"We were also able to purchase eye glasses for a child, and provided financial assistance towards covering the cost of tuition, school books, uniform and transportation for needy students for the current school year, Regisford-Henry said.





Revival Service

Regisford-Henry was especially happy to highlight a week of spiritual revival services which the mission conducted at the Layou SDA Church, Central Leeward.





The revival began with an anti-violence march through the streets of Layou, culminating with a rally at Velox Corner in the town, "where several speakers expressed their concerns about the spate of violence in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Regisford-Henry said.





Dr. Fitzroy Maitland, a Grenadian residing in Canada, who had pastored for many years in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, was the guest speaker for the revival services.





"Dr. Maitland, in his unique style, encouraged the congregants to get right with God, Regisford-Henry said.
Laverne Pompey-Young was an active member of the Spiritual Baptists of SVG, who, her colleagues said, was on a mission for the Lord.

When Everette Youngs mother left their Chapmans home last Sunday, September 30th, for a function in North Leeward, he expected she would return as she always did.





This was not to be. Everettes mother  Laverne Pompey-Young  did not return as expected and sadly, will never return.





Laverne Pompey-Young, a 50-year-old-mother of two from Chapmans, and Rt. Rev. Frank Simon, 60-year-old Cane End resident and Archbishop of the Spiritual Baptist Archdiocese of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, died on the spot when the Suzuki Escudo P4570 in which they were travelling to a Spiritual Baptist function in Chateaubelair, skidded off the road and plunged down a precipice in the Gordon Yard area, just on the outskirts of Cumberland/Sprig Village.





The driver and another passenger survived and were rushed to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital.

Everette told THE VINCENTIAN on Tuesday that before she left home that Sunday, his mother gave him some cooking instructions.





He recalled that she was picked up by a Suzuki Escudo, driven by her nephew Ezra Pompey of Lowmans Windward. Archbishop Simon and Philmena Tittle joined them later.

The grieving son said that it was his girlfriend, residing in Antigua, who first called him and told him that she had just heard his mom was killed in an accident, after a van went over a cliff in Gordon Yard.

He dismissed this, since he knew that his mother was not travelling in a van. "So me tell she that na true, said Everette.





After some quick reflection, he called the drivers cell phone. No answer.





He called Archbishop Simon. No answer. He didnt call his mother because her phone was not in good working condition.

But even with the no answers, Everette said he was not worried and put that behind him, believing instead that they were probably "busy at the Baptist meeting.





Shock, Sadness, Tears





But the atmosphere around the home was to change when someone who was on the scene, called his father, Everad Young, an employee of the the Ministry of Agriculture, and told him what had transpired.

It was a case from then on of "shock, sadness and tears, Everette said, and even admitted that he saw his father reduced to tears, something he had never seen before.

As for his sister, who is younger than he is, Everette said on Tuesday, "She is recovering well, adding, "We all have a very close relationship.

Everette described his mother  a housewife  as "a smiley person, who was like a counsellor to them. "She had she moods. When she serious, she serious, other times she is joking, he said.

She attended the St. Peter Baptist Church in Calder and was very involved in the Spiritual Baptist movement, the son added.

But before THE VINCENTIAN bade goodbye to Everette, he was beginning to show signs of cracking.

He mustered the courage to say, "I will miss she just being there for me. She wanted to see her children grow up.

And in a moment of doubt, he expressed, "If like she was sick or anything I would ah understand; but this me na understand why.
Five men on remand, charged with the September 15 robbery of Medical Doctor Reisha Twana Browne-Caesar, wife of Agriculture Minister Saboto Caesar, are still being investigated in connection with a series of matters, including a capital offence which is expected to be brought before the Court soon.





Prosecutor Curlene Samuel made the disclosure on Wednesday when Police Constable Ettian Charles, 34, of Arnos Vale; Glenville Harry, 34, of Vermont; Elroy Rogers, 26, of New Montrose; Rocquan Robinson, 29, of Campden Park, and Ulric Hanson of Sion Hill, returned to the Kingstown Magistrates Court for bail review. They are accused of being armed with a gun, at Cedars, robbed Dr. Browne-Caesar of items valued EC$10,350.50, as well as documents.





Charles is also charged separately with possession, without licence, of a .38 Smith and Wesson revolver and six rounds of .38 ammunition.

Samuel disclosed that the police were still gathering information with respect of the capital offence, and asked the Court for a further two weeks so that the police could wrap up their investigations.

She said the prosecution believes that if the men were released on bail at this stage, the investigations could be impeded.





Samuel said the prosecution believes that if the men were released on bail at this stage, the investigations could be impeded.





Senior Prosecutor Adolphus Delpleche had made similar objections to bail when the men made initial Court appearances September 18, 19 and 20. He had also asked for two weeks then, though he had indicated that he was speaking figuratively, since the process could take longer than that.

Delpleche, on Wednesday during the bail review proceedings, told the Court that he understands from the investigator that the investigations had advanced.





"As I said before, these investigations are very wide, and the investigators are asking to let us dig a little deeper to see how far we can get, the Prosecutor said. He also noted that an allegation made by Charles earlier that he was beaten by police, was not a ground for bail.





Attorney Israel Bruce, who said he was retained as Charles lawyer, only on the gun and ammunition charges, argued that while the prosecution had the right to advance their arguments in objecting to bail, it must be balanced with the constitutional right of the defendants.

"The court has to also bear in mind that while they (men) are in custody, they have a constitutional right to bail, Bruce contended.

Bruce added that the prosecution must have substantial grounds to show that the defendants would obstruct the process.





But the Senior Prosecutor rebutted saying, "While it is constitutional right, it is not an absolute right, it is a conditional right.

After listening to arguments from both sides, Senior Magistrate Rickie Burnett remanded the men for another week, making it clear, "Prosecutor, by that time, get your house in order.

The five will return to Court next Wednesday, October 10, when bail will again be reviewed.




Roger Pratt, 62, pictured on the 200,000 Magnetic Attraction yacht, was found dead in the water. (Photo Credit: SWNS.com)

St. Lucia has been described as a "gangsters paradise.





The label was recently posted by The Justice For Roger campaign blog, which was established to seek justice for Roger Pratt, a British tourist who was murdered in St. Lucia in January 2014.





According to St. Lucia Online News, "The Justice for Roger campaign blog described St. Lucia as being in the "midst of a violent crime epidemic and has one of the worst murder rates in the world.





The campaign blog said that drugs and other forms of gangland activity drives much of this activity and the culture of violence that has gripped St Lucia, adding that the country has found itself in a position where unsolved crimes are now backing up at a rate that the courts cannot handle.





With respect to the Pratt murder, four men were arrested and allegedly confessed within days of the murder. They remain in jail and have still not had their day in court.





The four young men that were arrested (and then confessed) within days of Platts murder almost five years ago remain in jail and have still not had their day in court.





A recent report said that in 2017, "60 homicides were recorded in St Lucia and the latest statistics from the RSLPF indicate 28 homicides this year. (Source: Caribbean News Now, SLO)
left:CoP (Ag) Colin John vehemently denied that he hit Charles. Middle:Attorney Israel Bruce representing Charles on the gun/ammo charges, told the court that he had photographs of Charles bleeding. Right:Constable Ettian Charles, on charges of gun/ammo possession and robbery, pointed fingers at CoP(Ag) Colin John as having inflicted a beating on him.

Acting Commissioner of Police Colin John has denied beating Constable Ettian Charles, one of five men charged with the September 15 robbery of Medical Director Reisha Twana Browne-Caesar, the wife of Agriculture Minister Saboto Caesar and sister of Health Minister Robert Luke Browne.





John made the denial while speaking to THE VINCENTIAN on Wednesday.





Charles had told the Kingstown Magistrates Court earlier that day, that he was severely beaten by police, and received most of the blows, resulting in injuries, from the Commissioner of Police (Ag), when he was taken into custody at the Central Police Station.





Charles, 34, of Arnos Vale, made the allegation while he and the four others were responding to the prosecutions further objection to their bail, which were upheld.

Charles along with Elroy Rogers, 26, of New Montrose; Glenville Harry, 34, of Vermont; Rocquan Robinson, 29 of Campden Park and Ulric Hanson of Sion Hill are charged jointly with, being armed with a gun, at Cedars, robbed Dr. Browne-Caesar of a quantity of items valued EC$10,350.50 as well as documents.

Charles is also charged separately with possession, without licence, of a Smith and Wesson .38 revolver and six rounds of .38 ammunition.





The men were remanded following strong objections to bail by Senior Prosecutor Adolphus Delpleche during initial Court appearances September 18, 19 and 20.





Charles complains of pains





On their return to Court on Wednesday for bail review, Charles complained that he was experiencing a medical condition which was getting worse. According to him, one of his ribs seemed to be fractured, and he was experiencing severe pains as a result of a police beating which involved the top cop. He asked for bail so that he could receive the appropriate medical attention.





Attorney Israel Bruce, who said he was retained as Charles lawyer only on the gun and ammunition charges, added that he was aware, through consultation with the defendant, that he was savagely beaten and he (Bruce) had photographs with him in bandages, and bleeding.





"Whether he is innocent or guilty of a charge, police have no right to treat people like this, Bruce declared, adding that he was making a plea for the Court to make an order for his client to receive medical attention based on the complaints Charles was making.





Continuing to make his complaints to the Court, Charles said, "The most beating I have received is from the Commissioner while I was in the back of the transport. I had to cry out in the back of the transport in the station yard asking him to stop. All my wounds is from Mr. Colin John. When I complained to the other officers, they said he was vex with me.





Senior Magistrate Rickie Burnett then asked, "Mr. Charles, are you speaking the truth?

Charles replied, "Yes please, my honour, adding that there were witnesses.

"The yard was full of people. When I investigate as to why he was beating me, he said he was mad with me.

When contacted later that day, the Acting Commissioner told THE VINCENTIAN, "I did not hit Mr. Charles, I did not see anyone hit Mr. Charles and no one made any report to me of anyone hitting Mr. Charles.

Up to press time Wednesday, THE VINCENTIAN was not aware of whether the Senior Magistrate had responded to Bruces request for an order to have his client receive the medical attention he requested.




By Trend





Relations between Russia and Azerbaijan are developing in accordance with the formula of strategic partnership, and this trend is increasingly strengthening. This is confirmed by mutual visits at a high level and the agreements reached.

The trade and economic cooperation remains as the core of relations between Russia and Azerbaijan, which determines the pragmatic and balanced nature of the partnership dialogue. At the end of September, the 9th Russia-Azerbaijan Interregional Forum was held in Baku, the main purpose of which was to ensure the development of relations between the regions of the two countries.

Olga Rukhullayeva, Deputy Minister of the Russian Federation for the North Caucasus, spoke about the prospects of deepening the bilateral cooperation in an exclusive interview with Trend.

Priority areas of cooperation

In general, the relations between Azerbaijan and Russia are friendly and good-neighborly; we have a common history and culture, there is a high level of interstate relations, which are the basis for bilateral cooperation in many areas, the deputy minister said.

She believes there are great prospects for development and expansion of bilateral cooperation between the countries. The recent meeting of the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan in Sochi in September, which resulted in the signing of 15 documents as well as a joint statement on the priority areas of economic cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia, showed that our countries are committed to long-term and mutually beneficial cooperation based on the national interests of the two states.

If we talk specifically about the North Caucasus, then again the priority is the development of trade, because we are neighbors of Azerbaijan, and our North Caucasian regions are considered one of the main trade partners of Azerbaijan, primarily in food products.

The second direction, which we consider promising, is the joint development of tourism for attraction of tourists from Azerbaijan to Russia, in particular to the North Caucasus, and vice versa, as well as creation of joint tourism products for citizens from other countries who could get acquainted with Russia (in particular with the North Caucasus), and Azerbaijan, staying in Russia, the deputy minister said.

During discussions at the Russia-Azerbaijan Interregional Forum dedicated to the development of bilateral cooperation, we and our Azerbaijani colleagues and representatives of the Federal Agency for Tourism of Russia agreed to outline steps for implementation of our joint projects in the future.

Cooperation potential untapped

The deputy minister said there are a lot of talented people in Azerbaijan, who may not have enough space to develop here, so they are already implementing and can implement in the future some of their projects in Russia.

For example, in Russia, there are niches in which women's entrepreneurship could also be involved. We talked this at the round table discussions, which were attended by prominent representatives of women's business in Azerbaijan. Given the fact that we are close, speak the same language and understand each other very well, all these opportunities should be used to the maximum, Rukhullayeva said.

Increasing tourist flow

Tourism industry, as one of the most profitable areas, is attractive to the Russian side, in particular the North Caucasus region, and big work is being carried out to expand it, she added.

For the development of tourism we have a perfect potential, namely, mountains, a sea, an ancient culture, a rich cuisine and sanatorium resorts, Rukhullayeva said. That is, there is a whole range of possibilities that can attract people, but at the same time our potential is far from being realized. Presently, the Caucasus receives about two million tourists annually, although we believe the potential of the Caucasus is about 10 million tourists a year. Therefore, we plan to develop all the niches, which will gradually increase the tourist flow."

The idea of developing maritime tourism in the Caspian Sea was also discussed with Azerbaijani colleagues during the round table talks at the interregional forum, she said. On this occasion, Russian President Vladimir Putin also made a statement in Baku.

It will be a unique project, which has no analogues yet, she said. We think its implementation can bring mutual benefit and have a good prospect for long-term and effective cooperation between our countries. The project is in demand from an economic point of view. Moreover, it will contribute to the development of cultural, regional relations among the Caspian countries.

Sanatoriums and spas

There is still interest in sanatoriums and spas, and every year they are gaining more and more popularity, she said. This industry in Russia is actively developing, especially if we talk about the resorts of the Caucasian Mineral Waters. There sanatoriums are full all year round and are in great demand. People come from different countries, including the countries of the former Soviet Union.

I would like to stress that in the North Caucasus there are several sanatoriums built by using Azerbaijani investments. One of them is a very modern sanatorium, Istochnik, in Yessentuki.

Istochnik with 444 beds was opened in 2016. The total investment amounted to 1.5 billion Russian rubles.

Currently, a joint project is underway to build a SPA complex in Kislovodsk and a sanatorium in Zheleznovodsk. In Zheleznovodsk, the project has moved to the active stage of preparation. A land plot for construction has been determined and documents are being prepared for the construction of a sanatorium with 400 beds. The deadline for the facilitys construction is set for 2020. At the same time, the Russian side provided the land where it is possible to develop business.

Another project is planned in the resort town of Kislovodsk, Rukhullayeva said. On April 6, 2017, an agreement of intent was signed with the Azerbaijani side to reconstruct the Akademichesky Sanatorium, which is state-owned. The investor expressed willingness to create a modern spa complex. The facility is located on a plot of 4.9 hectares in two minutes walk from Kislovodsk National Park. The government of the Stavropol Krai plans to provide the investor with tax benefits for the project's implementation.

Free economic areas in the North Caucasus

In order to expand trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Azerbaijan, there are several options for interaction in a multilateral format. One of them is the expansion of cooperation within the CIS and, above all, Azerbaijans accession to the free trade area (FTA) of the CIS, and subsequently to the FTA services, Rukhullayeva said.

Undoubtedly, this is interesting. Negotiations are underway and the parties are looking for a compromise. I believe the rapprochement of our countries is necessary and attractive for both parties. As a person close to the economy, I believe such areas are necessary, and the agreements concluded, first of all, should be mutually beneficial.

Free economic areas involve simplified customs and administrative procedures for crossing borders and some goods may be exempted from duties, the deputy minister said.

Expected joint infrastructure projects

One of the most important areas of the current Russia-Azerbaijan cooperation is the launch of the movement along the international North-South transport corridor, particularly, along its western branch via Azerbaijan, which is the shortest route, she said.

There is a great interest of Russian and international companies in cargo transportation via the North-South transport corridor on the Russia-Iran-India route and in the opposite direction.

Therefore, Azerbaijani partners are invited to consider the possibility of introducing Russian Platon and GLONASS systems in Azerbaijan, which will create a safe and transparent environment for the internal and transit transport of passengers and cargoes, the deputy minister said.

As for the North Caucasus region, by the end of 2019, the work related to the reconstruction of the Yarag-Kazmalar checkpoint will be completed, she said. This work includes the creation of a pedestrian crossing over the Samur River, as well as the inclusion of this checkpoint in the list of checkpoints for transshipment of alcohol products via the state border of Russia, and the creation of a specialized customs post in the territory of the North Caucasus Federal District for clearance of excisable goods.

Azerbaijani companies in Russia

Azerbaijan cooperates with more than 70 regions of the Russian Federation, and the relations with the federal subjects of the North Caucasus are of priority importance, Rukhullayeva said.

Business relations with Dagestan and Stavropol Krai are especially good. Azerbaijani companies actively operate in construction in Dagestan, supply construction materials and concrete. Azerbaijani companies are interested in projects to create farms for growing and processing agricultural products, manufacturing canned products. Projects are being considered to create logistics centers in the Stavropol Krai, which is one of the main suppliers of grain to Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani side is interested in ensuring continuous supply of grain. Such projects as a tea plant in Krasnodar are being implemented, which, although not being a part of the North Caucasus Federal District, is very close and the products manufactured there are delivered to the North Caucasus.

Popularity of Made in Azerbaijan brand in Russia

Russia ranks ninth in terms of import of products from Azerbaijan, and the country mainly exports fruit and vegetable products to Russia, Rukhullayeva said.

In 2017, imports from Azerbaijan to Russia grew 55 percent, showing the best dynamics among Russias partners in the CIS. This speaks of the great prospects for the sale of Azerbaijani products in Russia. However, in the opinion of the deputy minister, in order to take advantage of the available opportunities in conditions of increasing competition in the Russian market, coordinated efforts and, possibly, development of a program of joint actions are needed from both sides.

Of course, the sale of products under a common brand will affect its recognition in the Russian market and, I am sure, will have a positive impact on demand. However, an important aspect of joint work is the adaptation of Azerbaijani agricultural producers and their products to the requirements of the Russian market and Russian regulators.

If I answer this question as a consumer, and not as a state representative on the Northern Caucasus, I can say that Baku tomatoes are mostly in demand in the Russian consumer market, the deputy minister said. We consider them a real brand of Azerbaijani products in the first place. Well, we also like Azerbaijani dried fruits, nuts and pomegranate juice. I am telling you this as a buyer. By the way, I bought Azerbaijani tea in Baku, and I hope I will like it, too.
Join us in Celebrating 10 Years of Library Settlement Partnerships

For over a decade, Toronto Public Library has served newcomers through Library Settlement Partnerships (LSP), partnering with local settlement agencies and funded by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. This October, we invite you to join us in celebrating LSP Weeks 10th anniversary with a variety of activities at locations across the city.

The annual LSP Week celebration coincides with Canadian Citizenship Week (October 8 to 14, 2018) and Ontario Public Library Week (October 14 to 20, 2018). Last years LSP Week brought over 1,100 people together at 12 events across the city. Each year, the events are centered around a common theme. Last years theme was Celebration 150+, and previous years have focused on dance, music, and food. This years theme, "LSP: 10th anniversary," celebrates the longstanding successful partnership.

Here are a few of the events taking place at Toronto Public Library branches:

With 11 events offering a variety of activitiesa citizenship ceremony, cultural dance performances, film screenings, citizenship judges and other guest speakers, and much moreLSP Week 2018 promises to be memorable, and we look forward to celebrating with all of you!

LSP makes settlement services available to newcomers by offering both one-on-one information referrals and programs at Toronto Public Library branches across the city. In 2017, over 23,300 newcomers accessed LSP, and over 950 programs were delivered.

There are currently 14 LSP branches:

Agincourt Lillian H. Smith

Albion Mimico Centennial

Bridlewood Parkdale

Centennial Parliament Street

Eatonville Richview

Fairview Thorncliffe

Flemingdon Park Toronto Reference Library

Toronto Public Library partners with seven local settlement agencies for LSP:

Catholic Crosscultural Services

Centre for Immigrant and Community Services



CultureLink Settlement and Community Services



Kababayan Multicultural Centre



Rexdale Women's Centre



TNOThe Neighbourhood Organization



YMCA Newcomer Information Centre

Be sure to check our Settling in Toronto page to find more information about LSP and visit our New to Canada blog to learn about library resources for newcomers to Canada.
As UAE developers unveiled another raft of projects at Cityscape Global this week, a legal expert said more of the new homes will be snapped up by expatriates encouraged to stay longer in the country by changes to company ownership and visa rules.



Plans to introduce an investment law allowing 100 per cent foreign ownership this year, as well as a new 10-year visa for international investors and talented professionals, were announced by the UAE cabinet in May.



There is a growing interest both from investors around the world and expatriate professionals in many sectors who are anxiously awaiting the governments draft regulations, said Zisha Rizvi, a partner at STA Law Firm.



"One thing that is certain is that the new visa rules will change the trend for the UAEs traditionally transient expatriate population to simply come and go. Theyre saying that they will be far more inclined to stay, contribute to the economy on a long-term basis, and invest in property," she stated.



The big questions expatriates are now asking are who will be able to apply for a visa, will the law be restricted to doctors, lawyers and engineers or will it apply to those with other qualifications, and will there be any restrictions based on nationality, said Rizvi.



Said Fatima Al Sakkaf, the associate at STA, said: "We have been receiving a growing number of investor enquiries in recent weeks ahead of the draft regulations being announced. There is great interest from many parts of the world, not just India, Europe and the US."



"Enquiries are coming from professionals from many different sectors, including oil and gas, telecom, engineering and healthcare," revealed Al Sakkaf.



"There is definitely a growing momentum. The market sentiments look very positive. The one question most investors ask concerns the value of the property they must own in order to qualify for a 10-year visa," she stated.



Al Sakkaf pointed out that a new wave of investor confidence was being built by the countrys long-term vision.

The UAE is already a lucrative jurisdiction for overseas investors, but the new laws will attract more investment by providing a greater level of social security, she noted.



Over the past three years, Al Sakkaf and Rizvi have established themselves as leading UAE-based expert advisers on corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, litigation, arbitration, and real estate in the global market.-TradeArabia News Service
Lockheed Martin, the global security and aerospace company, said it has signed its first international Master Research Agreement with Saudi Arabias King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).



The two organizations have also announced their initial collaboration in the field of flexible electronics, which will include the integration of KAUST developed flexible solar cells on fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to enhance their operational endurance and support applications across a variety of sectors.



The agreement follows a MoU that was finalised by Lockheed Martins Chairman, President and CEO Marillyn Hewson, on her visit to KAUST in November 2017, where she also serves on the Board of Trustees.



Under the terms of the contract, Lockheed Martin and KAUST agreed to cooperate on various technology-focused projects that support Saudi Vision 2030.



Innovation in technology and engineering is a key driver of Saudi Arabias sustained long-term growth. Lockheed Martin is proud to help play a defining role in promoting the Kingdoms thriving R&D efforts as a committed partner to KAUST, said Lockheed Martin Chief Technology Officer, Keoki Jackson.



It is only through hands-on collaboration that we will be able to discover innovative solutions to conquer existing challenges, and we are looking forward to working with Saudi talent as we realize a safer and more secure future, he stated.



KAUST Senior VP for Research, Innovation, and Economic Development, Jean Frechet, said: "One of the goals of this year-long project will be to design, develop, integrate and test flexible and innovative solar cells to optimize the endurance of small UAVs."



"These could be used in various applications including agricultural productivity, monitoring oceanic environments and more," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Oman's Sandan Industrial Park recently signed agreements with three new tenants that will set up operations at the first-of-its-kind light industries park in the sultanate, said a report.



The agreements were signed with Durat Al-Sahel Services and Trade, Al Jadeed Exchange and Trade Links and Services Co, added the Oman Daily Observer report.



The three companies are engaged in a variety of business activities, including exchange services, building materials, electrical equipment, pipe lines, security systems, lighting, manufacturing of steel and aluminium, internal design, maintenance services, marble, tiles, and sanitation, it said.



These agreements come within the lease plan drafted and adopted by Sandan in partnership with Remax.



Furthermore, there are many similar lease agreements to be signed with different companies in the upcoming months, added the report.
In secret, behind locked gates, our Nation's Oldest City dumped a landfill in a lake (Old City Reservoir), while emitting sewage in our rivers and salt marsh. Organized citizens exposed and defeated pollution, racism and cronyism. We elected a new Mayor. We're transforming our City -- advanced citizenship. Ask questions. Make disclosures. Demand answers. Be involved. Expect democracy. Report and expose corruption. Smile! Help enact a St. Augustine National Park and Seashore. We shall overcome!
Barcelo Hotel Group has appointed Ahmad Shaban Fernandez as vice president sales & marketing at Barcelo Gulf.

The Jordanian-Spanish national possesses experience in regional and local markets, through his previous assignments with Marriott Hotels International, Rotana Hotels, InterContinental Hotels Group and Melia Hotels International.

His role at Barcelo Gulf, partner of Barcelo Hotel Group in the Middle East, includes establishing commercial targets for the entirety of the region and developing strategic plans based on the brands long-term objectives.

Fernandez acquired his business acumen through achieving a BA in Economics at Amman Private University in Jordan, and throughout the assignments, he previously served around the region. His most recent UAE based roles include Regional Head of Sales Middle East & Africa at Rotana Hotels Management Corp, and Regional Director of Sales & Marketing  MEA at Melia Hotels International.

Goulam Amarsy, CEO of Barcelo Gulf, partner of Barcelo Hotel Group in the Middle East said: We are delighted to welcome on board, Ahmad Shaban Fernandez, and place commercial activities under his guidance. His talents will spearhead ongoing successes as we continue to develop and rebrand properties within the region. His experience showcases his excellent leadership qualities, set to cement Barcelo Hotel Group as a hospitality provider of choice for tourism and business travel within the region.
Flydubai has announced that it will operate flights to select destinations from Dubai World Central (DWC) during the southern runway refurbishment project at Dubai International Airport (DXB), previously announced by Dubai Airports.

The refurbishment project is scheduled to take place between April 16, 2019, and May 30, 2019.



Flights to 39 destinations from flydubais network of 92 destinations will operate from DWC during the runway enhancement project. During this period, flights to 10 of these destinations will also be available from Dubai International Airport (DXB). Flights to all other flydubai destinations will continue to operate from DXB.



Commenting on the announcement, flydubais chief executive officer, Ghaith Al Ghaith, said: As we saw in 2014, runway enhancement programmes continue to support the long-term vision for aviation in the UAE. With flydubai flights operating to select destinations from DWC, we aim to not only support this vision but to provide our passengers with as much choice as possible to travel across our network with minimum disruption.



Destinations scheduled to operate from DWC during the runway refurbishment project include Alexandria, Delhi, Istanbul, Jeddah, Kuwait, Mumbai and Riyadh. Following the completion of the runway enhancement project on May 30, 2019, flydubai will resume its flights to these 39 destinations from Dubai International Airport. - TradeArabia News Service
By Najiya O, TwoCircles.net

Kozhikode: Former Naxal leader and social activist TN Joy aka Najmal Babu passed away on Tuesday, October 2 at Kodungallur, Thrissur district at the age of 70. However, it seems controversy, which was never far from him during his lifetime, has followed him after death too.

Contrary to his wish to be buried the Islamic way in the premises of the Cheraman Masjid, his family cremated him at his brothers place. In protest against the denial of his last wish, writer-activist Kamal C Chavara announced his conversion to Islam and accepted the name Kamal C Najmal.

Support TwoCircles



TN Joy, who had converted to Islam and accepted the name Najmal Babu, had requested the Cheraman Masjid authorities at Kodungallur to allow him to be buried there after his death. The Masjid authorities informed the family about this and took a stand that they would bury him there if the family handed over the dead body. But the family preferred to cremate the body in the land of his brother on October 3 evening.

The body was kept for the public to see at the Kodungallur Health Care Institute where Najmal Babu had been staying for years, and at the Kodungallur Police Ground. Najmal Babus friends wanted to bury the body at the Masjid, but the family opposed saying they were an atheist family without any particular beliefs. Owing to the confusion, the RDO had reportedly agreed to postpone the funeral by 24 hours and to reach a decision. In the meantime, Najmal Babus brother approached the police who allowed the family to take over the body. Rights activists protested against this. The police reportedly removed the protesters forcibly and assisted the family to take the body.

Proclaimed atheist and a co-traveller of the Communist movement Neelakanda Das and Devayani named their youngest son TN Joy in 1949. Joy grew without any set of beliefs and entered the Naxalite movement in his youth. He served as the state secretary of the CPI (ML) before it split. He was jailed during the Emergency and left the CPI (ML) after he was released. He was then actively involved in several protests and struggles including the recently-held protest of the Christian nuns. He also worked tirelessly to demand pension for the Emergency detainees. A renowned writer and intellectual, Joy was a constant presence in the socio-political as well as literature and cultural fields of Thrissur.

Joy approached the Cheraman Masjid in Kodungallur way back in December 2013 requesting permission to be buried there after his death. In the letter he wrote to the mosque, he had mentioned that he was not a believer but was worried at the discrimination faced by his friends community (Islam) following the demolition of the Babri Masjid and the Gujarat genocide. Interestingly, he announced his conversion to Islam in 2015 only. Though he had been active in the fight against Fascism and never associated himself with any religion, he was seen as a Hindu by most people. He then converted to Islam reportedly to express his solidarity with the suffering of Muslims and to strengthen the fight against fascism. VK Sreeraman made a documentary on Najmal Babu titled The man who tried to beautify the world which is available on Youtube.

Meanwhile, noted writer and social activist Kamal C Chavara converted to Islam protesting against the denial of the last wish of Najmal Babu. He announced his conversion in his Facebook page and changed his name as Kamal C Najmal. He is expected to explain the political statement regarding his conversion to Islam at the protest meeting planned to be held at 11 am on October 5 in front of the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram, according to reports.

His FB post can be translated as below:

It is an insult to live as a Hindu again

In a land where its not allowed not just to live, but even to die as a Muslim

Its the need of the moment to be a Muslim

A struggle

Today here in India

Being a Muslim is a revolutionary act

A struggle

Its not after having known or wishing to know about Islam

Nor seeing the greatness of Islam

In protest against the experience of Najmal Babu

I embrace Islam

My neck is ready for the first slash towards a Muslim.

Kamal C Najmal, popularly known as Kamalsi was detained in December 2016 following a complaint by the Sangh forces about a Facebook post. The complaint reportedly said that the Facebook post, which was an excerpt from his novel Shmashanangalude Note pusthakam (Notebook of cemeteries) insulted the national anthem. He was released after some days due to widespread criticism. In January 2017, he was in the news again when he announced that he was burning his novel and that he did not want to be known as a writer anymore as he was reportedly threatened by unknown people, and the case of sedition against him was still ongoing.
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.
Uh-oh! It could be you, or it could be us, but there's no page here.
The privately-operated Aquarius rescue ship arrived on Thursday in the port of Marseille in southern France after Panamanian authorities revoked its registration. As Deutsche Welle writes in an article "Europe's migrant rescue boats face uncertain future", without a flag, the Aquarius is unable to operate in a legal capacity while in international waters. Before losing its flag, it was considered the last privately-operated ship conducting rescue missions on the Mediterranean.

"It means the Aquarius is going to be in the port of Marseille for a certain period of time while we go through the administrative details of getting registration for the vessel to be able to head back out to sea," Nick Romaniuk, rescue coordinator for SOS Mediterranee, told DW.

SOS Mediterranee, which operates the Aquarius, has called on EU member states to recognize the value of citizen-led humanitarian missions and allow the Aquarius to register. But none have offered a way forward yet.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International pressed European leaders in an open letter published on Wednesday, saying authorities must "do everything in your power to ensure the Aquarius and its crew of professional, capable and committed rescuers can continue to save lives at sea."

"Deciding not to offer registration to the Aquarius would be tantamount to endorsing a deliberate strategy to obstruct legitimate humanitarian assistance to human beings at risk of drowning in international waters off Europe's coasts."

However, the Aquarius isn't the only privately-operated rescue ship that is in legal limbo. Others, including the Sea Watch and Proactiva Open Arms, have been docked in Malta since earlier this year.

Alexander Proelss, director of the Institute for Legal Policy (IRP) and maritime legal scholar at the University of Trier, told DW that there are several obstacles in the way for these humanitarian vessels. "Depending on where the ship is registered, it receives the respective national flag as approval. As such, only the flag state can enforce the rights of the ship," said Proelss. "Some rescue ships, such as the Sea Watch registered in the Netherlands (and operated by a German NGO), can provide accurate documentation. But until the Maltese authorities have clarified all questions with the country, the ship remains blocked (in Malta)."

Proelss noted that the situation could be more difficult if a vessel is registered as a "pleasure craft." Pleasure craft  also known as pleasure boats  are vessels meant for personal use, such as family trips or recreational activities. "Some NGOs have made a serious mistake because they registered these ships as pleasure craft," Proelss told DW.

But organizations have refuted the logic, saying there isn't another option. In August, Sea Watch cited a letter the Dutch government sent to Maltese authorities showing that the registration was "in order." "The ship is registered as a non-commercial motor yacht (pleasure craft) as this is the most suitable registration for the ship in common understanding of Sea Watch and the Dutch government," Sea Watch said at the time. "There is no ship class and no general regulations in place for Search and Rescue vessels. Still the ship holds a class certificate and is fully entitled with the Dutch flag."

As the Aquarius was preparing to dock in the port of Marseille on Thursday, SOS Mediterranee's Romaniuk told DW that they were receiving distress signals from vessels off the coast of Libya via Maltese and Italian authorities. "Since 2014, there has been a gap that needs to be filled and the Aquarius is there for that. But this is being hindered right now by political maneuvering within Europe," Romaniuk said. "The knock-on effect of that is people are dying, which is unacceptable."

More than 17,000 migrants have died attempting the dangerous voyage to Europe across the Mediterranean since 2014. That year, migrants making the crossing surged, triggering what would be dubbed a migration crisis in 2015. Since then, several EU member states have been critical of irregular migration, including Italy, which has prevented search and rescue vessels carrying migrants from docking at the country's ports.
On October 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin is to hold the India-Russia annual summit meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. As The Diplomat writes in an article "Modi-Putin Summit: Whats on the Agenda for India-Russia Defense Ties?", the last summit meeting took place in St. Petersburg in 2017, and Putin and Modi met last for an informal summit in Sochi in May this year. The summit process between India and Russia started way back in 2000 and since then, the relationship has been elevated to a Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership. The India-Russia strategic partnership is important for a number of reasons, but the two countries also face significant challenges. The relationship in the last few years have undergone some big changes, not all of them positive.

The key question therefore is to see if the age-old bilateral relationship is sturdy enough to withstand some of the current turbulence. As Putin arrives in New Delhi, there is both excitement and uneasiness around the visit and what might come of it. There is excitement on both sides about a couple of important defense deals and there are plans to strengthen and streamline civil nuclear cooperation between the two countries. But there is also anxiety in New Delhi about the growing Russia-China ties and what that could mean for India.

On the other hand, Moscow remains anxious about Indias changing strategic orientation, particularly its relationship with the United States, and New Delhis defense trade diversification policy, among other issues. Russia has failed to appreciate the Indian strategic calculation behind its closer strategic engagement with the United States and other partners such as Japan and Australia.

From Indias perspective, Russia remains an important strategic partner for a number of different reasons. The historical character of the bilateral relationship aside, there are several strategic factors that impinge on the Russia-India dynamic. For one, Russia remains the only partner that is still willing to give India critical technologies, such as a nuclear submarine. Two, the emerging Russia-China strategic relationship has important security consequences for India. Even as India is diversifying its defense trade partners, Russia still dominates the Indian defense inventory to the tune of about 70 per cent. This raises worries in India because of the changing nature of the Russia-China defense relationship.

To take just one example, Russias sale of Su-30 and especially the Su-35 fighter puts Indias security at some risk. Russias sale of advanced Kilo-class submarines is another instance. These are illustrations of the important changes in the Russia-China security dynamics because Beijing for a long time was not given access to the best and most modern Russian technology and there was no technology transfer. The Russia-China oil and gas deals over the last few years also is a testament to this new closer partnership.

On the other hand, there are positive elements also in India-Russia relationship. Civil nuclear cooperation and defense and technology collaboration will dominate the Putin-Modi Summit meeting. The two sides are believed to be formalizing an action plan on nuclear cooperation. The two sides are also expected to sign an agreement for the purchase of the advanced S-400 Triumf air defense systems worth more than $5 billion.

This deal has been under threat because of the US CAATSA (Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) legislation, which seeks to sanction any country that does significant business with Russia in the defense or intelligence domains. Even though U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis has sought an exemption for India, and the U.S. Congress has given the U.S. administration the authority to waive CAATSA, it is up to the president to decide on whether such a waiver will be granted.

Irrespective of how the CAATSA sanctions may play out, India appears quite certain that it wants the S-400 because of the technological superiority of the system. India has explored a financial mechanism where India can make the payment in rupees rather than in U.S. dollars. Though the United States has not indicated how it will react to the S-400 deal, Washington has been somewhat understanding because India over the last few years has diversified its defense procurement and reduced its dependency on Russia to some extent, which is one of the conditions for gaining a CAATSA waiver.

Russia, for its part, appears quite confident that the deal will go through. Igor Korotchenko, head of the Moscow-based Centre for Analysis of World Arms Trade noted that the U.S. wont impose sanctions on them because they dont want the Indians to refuse to purchase American weapons in the future.

There are reports suggesting that there may be an agreement also for the sale of four frigates to India. Under the deal, two of the advanced Talwar-class frigates will be directly purchased from Russias Yantar Shipyard and delivered in two years time, while the next two will be built at the Goa Shipyard. Although of an earlier previous generation, the Indian Navy already operates six of the Talwar-class frigates. Defense analysts add that the newer frigates will be equipped with the Brahmos missiles.

There is also the possibility of Russia-India cooperation on Amur-class submarine. Andrei I Baranov, Deputy Director General for Foreign Activities at Rubin Design Bureau which builds these submarines, promised that India will be able to have 80 percent indigenization. The potential for collaboration to jointly develop Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) is also a possibility. Such defense deals and nuclear energy cooperation should keep the India-Russia relationship afloat for the time being. But they will not assuage New Delhis long terms concerns about the increasingly close Russia-China strategic partnership.
"The strategic partnership and cooperation between Georgia and the United States under the administration of President Donald Trump reached the highest level. We intend to intensively develop this cooperation," Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze told the Tbilisi-based television channel Imedi TV last week. He is confident that a historic moment has come in Tbilisi-Washington relations in order to continue deepening bilateral cooperation in all areas in a qualitative manner, especially in the areas of economics, security and defense.

The Caspian region and the region of the South Caucasus, in particular Georgia, continue to be a zone of direct confrontation between Russia and the United States. Russia continues its commitment to expand influence in the Transcaucasia, and the United States is trying not to lose the positions achieved in the South Caucasus under the previous administrations, blocking Russia's efforts.

The Tbilisi-Washington military cooperation is aimed primarily at making the pro-Western course of the Georgian government more sustainable, and not at improving and modernizing the Georgian armed forces. The militarization of the entire Transcaucasian region is on the rise, being significantly ahead of the region's economic and social progress. The United States does not want the number of Georgia's troops, weapons and military equipment to exceed the permissible limits. The South Caucasus has already enough weapon and ammunition to unleash another war, which would lead to a greater loss of life.

Tbilisi and Washington are interested in expanding Georgias access to the Generalized System of Preferences. It would contribute to the growth of Georgian exports to the EU markets, which provides opportunities associated with trade and the abolition of any trade barriers. In other words, full liberalization of manufacturing trade, as well as a significant easing of the export duty by 95%.

At the same time, the United States restricts closer integration of Georgia into such structures as NATO, fearing excessive rapprochement between Tbilisi and leading European states. For Washington, the format of bilateral cooperation with the South Caucasus countries seems more convenient on a bilateral basis than in the framework of NATO. Finally, Russia's influence is still great, and in this sense, cooperation between the United States and Georgia should create an idea of a real partnership, and not of the American military's penetration into the region.

The maintenance of the Russian military presence in Armenia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia may well ensure the balance of forces in the region. Unlike Georgia, which considers the possible American presence as a deterrent to Russia, the United States sees this as a possible option to deter Turkey. Turkish business is actively penetrating into the Transcaucasus, especially now that Ankara opposes American sanctions policy. Over the past twenty-five years, Turkey remains Georgia's largest trading partner - the trade turnover amounted to 1.58 billion dollars in 2017. Turkey is followed by Russia, China and Azerbaijan with 1.18 billion, 939 million and 881 million dollars, respectively.
A passenger bus and a minibus collided on the Tver - Rzhev highway in Central Russias Tver Region this morning.

According to the press service of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, the death toll in the collision has reached 13 people.

"According to the latest data, the accident has left 13 people dead, 17 others were injured, four of them are being transported to the hospital by the ambulance," TASS cited the press service as saying.

The regional prosecutors office earlier reported that the accident had killed 12 people.

"The prosecutors office of the Tver Region has launched a probe into transport safety in the wake of the accident, which occurred near the village of Nekrasovo in the Kalinin Region. According to preliminary date, there were 14 people in the bus, 12 of them were killed," its press service said.
The Trump administration is giving greater priority to Iran and radical groups it backs in a new U.S. counterterrorism strategy document, White House National Security Adviser John Bolton said.

"In addition, the United States faces terrorist threats from Iran, which remains the most prominent state sponsor of terrorism, really the worlds central banker of international terrorism since 1979," Reuters cited him as saying.

"Iran-sponsored terrorist groups such as Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad continue to pose a threat to the United States and our interests," Bolton stressed.

The National Security Adviser described "radical Islamist terrorist groups" as the pre-eminent transnational terrorist threat to the U.S. and its interests abroad.

Bolton acknowledged that "additional challenges do remain" despite U.S.-backed forces having taken most of the areas of Syria and Iraq overrun by ISIS several years ago.
Head of the National Centre of Disease Control (NCDC) of Georgia Amiran Gamkrelidze said that recent allegations of the Russian media and state officials regarding illegal experiments at the Tbilisi-based, US-built Lugar Laboratory are "unimaginable falsehoods and slander.'

The Russian media and Commander of the Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence Troops of Russia Igor Kirilov said at a special briefing that illegal experiments have been made on humans in the lab which led to the death of more than 73 people in 2015 and 2016.

Before Kirilov made the statement, Georgian former security official in the Eduard Shevardnadze government, Igor Giorgadze, told the media that illegal human experiments were made on people suffering advanced stages of Hepatitis C.

Gamkrelidze said that the laboratory was built with the help of the US, however, it is in the full ownership of the Georgian government and as of 2018 the lab is fully financed by the Georgian state budget.

"All clinical-laboratory diagnostic and scientific research requiring the use of a BSL-3 laboratory under international rules is carried out in the Lugar centre. Besides, only Georgian researchers [not Americans as Russians say] have access to the BSL-3 space, Agenda.ge cited Gamkrelidze as saying.

Gamkrelidze responded to the allegations concerning Hepatitis C and stated that studies on Hepatitis C medications have never been conducted at the Lugar lab.
German KfW and French AFD sign have signed 74 million euro in loan agreements to support energy sector reform in Georgia, the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia said.

Georgias Finance Minister Ivane Matchavariani and KfWs Director for Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia Olaf Zymelka signed a loan agreement worth 49 million euro on 2 October for the 'Support of Georgias Energy Sector Reform'.

On the same day Matchavariani signed a second loan agreement worth 25 million euro with the French Ambassador in Georgia Pascal Meunier and AFDs Head of the regional office for the South Caucasus, Gaelle Assayag, with the same purpose, Agenda.ge reported.

The EU will allocate a grant contribution of 8.5 million euro through its Neighbourhood Investment Platform (NIP) to support the scope of this agreement, announced the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia.

The grant will support the establishment of a strategic, institutional and financial vision and framework for energy efficiency in Georgia, especially in the construction sector. It will also promote energy efficiency through a reform programme that moves Georgia from a centralised electricity market to an organised market as envisaged by the EUs Third Energy Package.

The programmes implementation period will last until 2021.
The European Union will reach long-term security only in cooperation with Moscow, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in a speech to Austrian parliament.

Despite anything that happens in Russia, the Europeans shouldn't forget that they are neighbors with the country, the European Commission President said.

He stressed that the European Union remained committed to the Iran nuclear deal, adding that "We are in intensive talks with Americans about it," Sputnik reported.

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said earlier that the energy supply of Europe cannot be imagined without Russia.

Juncker's comments come on the heels of Dutch Defense Minister Ank Bijleveld's claim that four Russian citizens with diplomatic passports have been expelled from the Netherlands on April 13 on suspicion of an attempted cyberattack on the OPCW. The UK Foreign Office, in turn, accused Russia's foreign intelligence service GRU of cyber attacks on political institutions, enterprises, media and sports.
French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Azerbaijan next week, the French newspaper La Tribune reported.

During the visit to Baku, Macron plans to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The issue of signing a contract between the French industrial group Naval Group and the Azerbaijani government on the construction of an Offshore Patrol Vessel 90 (OPV 90) in the country is also on the agenda, according to the report.
Manila (CNN Philippines Life)  At the Hans Christian Andersen Museum in Denmark, childrens literature specialist Katrina Gutierrez was scanning the book racks when she chanced upon the word Tagalog as a label on one of the shelves.

Was I reading it right? Was a wave of homesickness making me see things? recalls Gutierrez in her essay, Looking For Andersen and Finding Rizal. The museum is home to the most extensive collection of Andersen stories in translation, so it wasnt entirely unexpected to see a version in the Philippine language.

What astonished Gutierrez, however, was the person behind the Tagalog translation. I pressed my face closer to the glass, and this time I was truly surprised. On the spine in faded but clear letters was the name: Jose Rizal, she writes.

It turns out, Rizal was the first Filipino to translate the classic tales of Andersen into Tagalog. When he was in Germany studying medicine, he got a hold of the German edition of the tales and in order to practice his German, he translated five Andersen stories into Tagalog, drew illustrations to accompany the translations, and sent the manuscript back to the Philippines as a Christmas gift to his nephews and nieces.

The five translated tales  The Little Fir Tree or Ang Puno ng Pino; Thumbelina or Si Gahinlalaki; The Ugly Duckling or Ang Pangit na Sisiw na Pato; The Angel or Ang Sugo; and The Little Match Girl or Ang Batang Babaeng May Dalang Sakafuego  are now available for the rest of the Philippine public to read and enjoy through Anvil Publishings latest book, Hans Christian Andersen and Jose Rizal: From Denmark to the Philippines.

The Andersen tales that are now in Anvil Publishings version includes Rizals translations and some of his drawings that were preserved by the National Library, which had a photostatic copy of the manuscript. Photo by JL JAVIER

The book not only features Rizals tales but also the spot illustrations that were found in the manuscript. Ambeth Ocampo, the notable Rizal scholar and historian, says that nobody knows for certain where the original manuscript is, but one of the living relatives of Rizal told him that the manuscript is in fact with some member of the family who should not have it.

Ocampo also says that Rizals affinity with childrens stories isnt only reflected on these Andersen tales. The Philippine fable and what is recognized as the first Filipino tale for children, The Monkey and the Turtle, was also made popular by Rizal, especially when the story was published in 1889 in a London publication called Trubners American and Oriental Record.

When I was still Chair of the [National Historical Commission of the Philippines], somebody came to my office and said, We want to show you the original The Monkey and the Turtle, shares Ocampo. They brought the notebook out and it was indeed the original  It had all other things inside  inscriptions by Marcelo del Pilar, drawings by [Juan] Luna, drawings by [Felix] Resurreccion Hidalgo. So, I leafed through this and I made the mistake of asking, Why do you have this?

The notebook has since disappeared. I think because of the high prices of auction these days, it will surface and I think the original Andersen tales will surface [as well], he adds.

The Andersen tales that are now in Anvil Publishings version includes Rizals translations and some of his drawings that were preserved by the National Library, which had a photostatic copy of the manuscript. Ocampo says the librarys copy is not the most ideal as it had been defaced by an overzealous librarian who was so scared that the copy will get lost [so it was] stamped [with] property marks all over the pages.

Nonetheless, the present product is another addition to our understanding of our national hero. As new information on what he spent his time and life on surface, it also tells us about his philosophies, things he stood for, and lessons he wants our country to learn back then. Perhaps, it is still significant now, when the quest for a unifying national identity still lingers.

Rizal's manuscript of the tales included illustrations he drew himself for his nephews and nieces. Photo by JL JAVIER

Here is more interesting information about Jose Rizal that was brought to life during the research and compilation of the book:

Rizal was a comic artist.

Ocampo says that he would go as far as saying that Rizal could be the father of Philippine comics because he did various childrens tales in komiks.

He did [The Monkey and the Turtle] in this format. He did this for the ill-fated wife of Juan Luna, he explains. She had a notebook where people would write dedications and little notes and she said that there's something like 12 pages in the back [and asked Rizal,] Can you do something?  So Rizal sat in the corner and drew the entire tale.

The Philippine National Library also has a copy of Rizals other drawings in comic form: The Baptism of Two Brothers, a German tale, and La curacion de los Hechizados, a monograph on bewitchment.

Rizal held Germany close to his heart.

Much like Andersen, Rizal travelled and lived across Germany many times. It was in Berlin where Rizal became part of the Anthropological and Geographic Society as well as where he was admitted to the state library in which he exhausted resources about the Philippines.

Rizal also published the Noli Me Tangere in Berlin while he translated the Andersen tales in Leipzig, a city south of Berlin. From Leipzig, he wrote a letter to his nieces and nephews that accompanied the Andersen translation:

Dahil at sa ualang laging isip kundi ang ikakagaling ninio, kayong mga murang bunga ng mga kinakapatid, ai pinaginutan kong isalin sa matamis nating wika ang mga kalugudlugud na salita ni Andersen upan ding mabasa ang mga natatalos ng ibang manga bata sa Europa.

Kung iniong kaalinang basahin, sulatin at isaulu ai mai masasalita kayo sa iniong kaibigang kapua bata, mamatimisin ng aking loob at papalain ang kinapaguran.

Rizal wanted to make reading Tagalog easier for children.

In Gutierrezs essay, she says that Rizal told Ferdinand Blumentritt in a letter that he was translating Andersens tales as an exercise toward the improvement of Tagalog orthography, or the standard spelling system of the language. His aim, he said, was to simplify Tagalog so that children can have an easier time while reading.

Rizal also made sure that even through translation, he would be able to express abstract concepts like sound effects and animal noises into Filipino expressions that would be understood by children. So instead of tweet tweet for a bird, in the translation, it says kuirrebirrebit; and instead of splash! the word becomes platseh!

Historian Ambeth Ocampo surmises that the common theme among the five tales Rizal translated is the message of transformation  of stories of little beings (The Ugly Duckling, Thumbelina) gaining strength and being empowered. Photo by JL JAVIER

Rizal might have been the first to introduce the Christmas tree to the Philippines.

In Ocampos essay in the book, he states that Rizal must have chosen Ang Puno ng Pino as one of the Andersen tales to translate because a letter to his sister, Neneng, detailed the German tradition of bringing Christmas trees into their homes.

It is decorated with tinsel, paper, lights, dolls, candy, fruits, dainties, etc., and at nighttime, it is shown to the children (who should not see the preparation of it), and around this tree the family celebrates Christmas, states Rizal in the letter.

Ocampo says that Rizal was indeed transmitting more than the stories, he was transmitting the culture that he was learning abroad as well.

Rizal shared Andersen tales that spoke of the oppressed being transformed.

The one question Ocampo and Gutierrez seek to answer is the reason why Rizal chose to translate these particular Andersen tales. The Danish author had a wide breadth of work, and it has become a bit of a quandary as to why Rizal centered on these five stories.

Ocampo surmises that the common theme among the five is the message of transformation  of stories of little beings (The Ugly Duckling, Thumbelina) gaining strength and being empowered. It was during this time that he was finishing Noli Me Tangere as well, so it could be that he was speaking to the Filipinos, the oppressed, to be on the pursuit of greatness no matter the circumstance.

Ocampo says, I think what Rizal is teaching not just his nephews and nieces, but [also] the nation that he sacrificed his life for, is the whole idea of becoming greater than you are, becoming better than what you actually are.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev delivered his annual Address to the people of the republic.

The head of state said that the republic's relations with Russia set the standard. Kazakhstans relations with Russia set the standard of interstate relations, Nazarbayev emphasized. "We will continue work in this direction," RIA Novosti cites him as saying.

In his address to the people of Kazakhstan, Nazarbayev noted that the republic should use the best experience in managing all sectors through the introduction of flexible, convenient standards. The President instructed the government to support the manufacturing industry and non-oil exports in the next three years and allocate an additional 500 billion tenge for these purposes.

The head of state also instructed the Cabinet to raise the minimum wage on January 1, 2019 from 28 to 42 thousand tenge.

In addition, he analyzed the activities of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). According to the president, it's work is "successful."

Speaking about the Astana process on Syria, Nazarbayev pointed out that it had become practically the only effective working format for negotiations on a peaceful settlement of the Syrian crisis.

He also said that Kazakhstan's partnership with China, the United States and other countries will continue. "Of course, of a proactive foreign policy is required in order to ensure the successful modernization of Kazakhstan, further progress," the president said. "Our peaceful policy and clearly defined priorities in this area are fully justified," Nazarbayev noted.
Leyla Abdullayeva has been appointed as head of press service of Azerbaijan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to a message from the Foreign Ministry.

Leyla Abdullaeva has been working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2002.She held positions in various institutions of the central office of the Foreign Ministry, in the representative office of Azerbaijan at NATO, at the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Belgium and in the representative office of Azerbaijan at EU.

Former head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Hikmet Hajiyev was earlier appointed deputy head of the foreign relations department of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration.
Paris paid tribute to Charles Aznavour during a national solemn ceremony today.

This morning, politicians and celebrities gathered near the site of Napoleons tomb in the courtyard of Les Invalides, where French president Emmanuel Macron welcomed Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Former French Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande and actor Jean-Paul Belmondo were among those attending the ceremony.

Aznavour, born to Armenian parents who fled to Paris in the 1920s, became one of the Armenian diasporas most recognized voices and a vocal defender during a performing career spanning eight decades.

Covered by a French tricolor flag, Aznavours coffin arrived in the courtyard carried by military personal to the sound of a traditional Armenian tune. A spray of red, blue and orange flowers - the colors of the Armenian flag - was then laid close to the casket.

"Every Armenian sees him as a close relative. Because Aznavour is the one who lifted Armenia to the roof of the world," AP cited Pashinyan as saying.

Speaking after Pashinyan, Macron said that "for so many decades, (Aznavour) has made our life sweeter, our tears less bitter."

The ceremony ended with a rendition of Aznavour's hit "Emmenez-Moi," which was played as his coffin was carried away.

Aznavour passed away on October 1 at the age of 94 at one of his homes, in the village of Mouries, north of Marseille.
Russia's energy, finance and economic development ministries will oblige Russian oil companies to send at least 17.5% of their annual production to domestic oil refineries, according to the instruction given by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev following the governmental meeting.

The document was published on the Russian government's website. The amendments providing for obligations to send oil to refineries capable of producing motor fuel must be prepared before October 10, RBC noted.

The Kommersant reported in August, citing its three source in the industry, that the proposal came from Rosneft, which owns 13 major oil refineries.

A leading analyst of the National Energy Security Fund, a lecturer at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Igor Yushkov, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that quotas for oil refining is a logical consequence of the tax maneuver, which transfers the burden from the oil industry workers to the wells. "Previously, oil companies paid an oil and gas production tax and duty on oil exports, which provided cheaper oil for the domestic market. Now the situation will be different: export taxes are abolished, an oil and gas production tax increases, so supplying domestic markets is not as profitable as the export of raw materials. In order to protect the needs of the domestic market, they are developing such mechanisms," he explained.

"By the way, the question arises why there was a need to invent a tax maneuver in the oil industry at all, if the state then donates the money received in the form of a reverse excise tax to oilmen and forces them to supply oil to refineries and process them," Igor Yushkov said.

Deputy director of energy policy of the Institute of Energy and Finances, Alexey Belogoriev, agreed with Yushkov. "This is a security measure in the framework of the new tax maneuver in order to avoid a shortage of motor fuel in the domestic market, after the companies start exporting more oil due to a decline in export duties. In general, such measures are not quite market in nature,due to the fact that the role of state regulation in the industry is increasing," he said.

"If we talk about large companies, then no costs emerge here for them, since they supply more than 16% of produced oil to the domestic market. It will be difficult to predict how it will be implemented by companies which do not have their own refining. Not all small and medium-sized companies can provide such a level of refining, although the majority in this sector supply a much larger share of oil to the domestic market, Aleksey Belogoryev added.
Leader of Prosperous Armenia party Gagik Tsarukyan called on Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to seek those counterrevolutionary people in his own team, commenting Pashinyan's statement that the Republican Party of Armenia and the facilitating forces have declared the counter-revolution.

"Mr. Prime Minister should seek those counterrevolutionary people in his [own political] team," Tsarukyan said.

The leader of Prosperous Armenia party added that he will meet with the countrys extra-parliamentary forces, with those that have not collaborated with second and third Presidents Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan, respectively.

The MP assured that even if they were part of the government before, this has changed nothing for him.

When asked whether this means that he has not joined the 'counterrevolution', Tsarukyan responded: "I have been for the revolution, and I will do more today; the accountability is upon me. Five thousand investors are coming [to Armenia] from 25 countries for investments."

The MP explained that the flow of investors into Armenia has stopped not because there is no snap parliamentary election in the country yet, but for a completely different reason.

The leader of Prosperous Armenia party noted that his faction had allocated one-third of the votes needed for Pashinyan to be elected PM in the National Assembly, in the case when he could have nominated his own candidacy to this office.

Tsarukyan also stressed that it is impossible to single-handedly carry out a revolution. "The people want it [the snap parliamentary election] in December, so we want [it] too; we have no such problem," the leader of Prosperous Armenia party concluded.

Ex-mayor of Yerevan Vahagn Khachatryan, speaking with Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that Tsarukyan's struggle against Pashinyan is only surface, and after some time, the Prosperous Armenia party will still support Yelks demand to hold early parliamentary elections in December. "I think that they will ultimately support Pashinyan's initiative. There is no logic in this conflict after the Prosperous Armenia party supported Nikol Pashinyans candidature at the PM elections and the velvet revolution as a whole. Still, the Prosperous Armenia party will go to early elections, which will surely take place as the people and interests of the Armenian state demand. I am sure that Gagik Tsarukyan and his party will not be against holding elections in December - by the way, in the same interview he said that he was not against Pashinyans demand," Khachatryan stressed.

The former head of Yerevan recalled that in the post-revolutionary conditions, the Prosperous Armenia party has remained a "party of one person" - of Gagik Tsarukyan. "It became especially clear after the elections to the post of Yerevan mayor, where the Prosperous Armenia party's candidate almost had no support - it is clear now that the Pashinyan party has no political alternative in Armenia. Unfortunately, there was no alternative to the party of Sargsyan before, now there is no alternative to the party of Pashinyan," he concluded.
Manila (CNN Philippines Life)  There's a lot of dark stuff in the world in the moment and I think this show just helps celebrate the good things in life, says Shona White, who plays Donna Sheridan in the international tour of Mamma Mia! The Musical.

The show makes its much awaited return to Manila after six years and its timing couldnt be better. With so much going on in the world today, its easy to forget that there are good things in life. The feel-good musical, which takes audiences away to a sunny Greek island full of ABBA-singing and dancing inhabitants, is a reminder of that.

The story revolves around the intrepid 20-year-old Sophie Sheridan, who, set to be married soon, invites three men from her mothers past to her wedding in an effort to figure out which one could be her father. As she spends time getting to know each one, her mother, Donna, reckons with the fact that her daughter is marrying at such a young age while she catches up with her old gang of friends.

Lucy May Barker plays Sophie Sheridan, the intrepid bride-to-be in search for her father among three possible candidates. Phillip Ryan plays Sky, Sophies fiance. Photo by JL JAVIER

The onstage couple (who are also engaged in real life) share a palpable chemistry despite minimal stage time together. photo by JL JAVIER

If the Oct. 2 gala night performance proved anything, its that the 2018 International Tour is a romp thatll get even the gloomiest person to start tapping their feet. The show is brought to life by its cast of charming and delightful performers  most of whom have been part of the production for years, such as White, whos had the opportunity to play Sophie in the past, as well as leads Lucy May Barker (Sophie) and Phillip Ryan (Sophies fiance Sky), whose chemistry is palpable despite the limited time they share onstage. And as it turns out, the couple are engaged in real life as well.

But the musical is more than just an escape from the problems plaguing the real world. Mamma Mia! has long been commended for its feminist undertones and its unapologetic take on female sexuality. Juxtaposed with the recent slew of sexual harassment allegations here and in the United States, the world of Mamma Mia! stands as a model for the real world, where female characters are unabashedly open about their desires and receive not a word of judgment or rebuke from their peers.

I think with the #MeToo movement and all that kind of stuff, I think it's really important that the story is heard and that women have a real place in theater, film, and equally to men, says Nicky Swift, who plays Rosie, one of Donnas best friends.

Donna and the Dynamos, the ABBA-singing troupe of best friends. From left: Rosie (played by Nicky Swift), Donna (Shona White), and Tanya (Helen Anker). Photo by JL JAVIER

The music of ABBA transcends the generations, says Shona White. It's really thrilling to look out into the audience at the end and see tiny tots of five up to ladies and gents in their 80s all dancing along and singing along. Photo by JL JAVIER

This, perhaps, is part of why audiences keep coming back to the long-running musical, which made its premiere almost 20 years ago. White surmises that the shows staying power also lies in its music, which features some of ABBAs greatest hits, including Dancing Queen, Mamma Mia, Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After midnight),Super Trouper, Money Money Money, Chiquitita, Thank You for the Music, Lay All Your Love on Me, Voulez-Vous, Take a Chance on Me, and many others.

The music of ABBA transcends the generations, and for us it's really thrilling to look out into the audience at the end and see tiny tots of five up to ladies and gents in their 80s all dancing along and singing along, says White.

It is indeed difficult to resist the urge to sing and dance along to the show, and audiences need not wait until they get home. There's a fantastic opportunity at the end of every show for everyone to join in, says White, referring to (spoiler alert) the moment the entire cast is done taking their bows, where they jump out to do Mamma Mia once more, followed by Dancing Queen led by Donna and her bestfriends, the Dynamos, clad in sparkly disco digs.

We really just want everyone to have a great time because we have a great time onstage, says Swift. And the more the audience has a good time, we have an even better time.

***

The 2018 International Tour made its Manila debut on Sept. 29 and will continue to run until Oct. 21 at The Theatre at Solaire.
Nghi pham la William Clyde Allen III, 39 tuoi, bi bat giu tai nha rieng o Logan, bang Utah.

Allen ang dinh vao cuoc ieu tra ve cac buc thu co oc gui en quan chuc Lau Nam Goc va Tong thong Trump.

Kham xet noi o cua Allen e truy tim chat oc. Nguon: Reuters

Ngay 3/10, co mot so thu uoc gui en trung tam su ly buu kien Lau Nam Goc va a kich hoat chuong bao ong co oc cua noi nay, bao hieu co chat oc ricin trong cac phong bi.

Phat ngon vien cua Lau Nam Goc tiet lo bien ban kiem tra cho biet bao ong uoc kich hoat boi hat thau dau, loai hat co chua chat ricin chu khong phai ricin a tinh che.

Chat oc nay co the gay tu vong trong vong tu 36 en 72 gio chi voi mot luong rat nho co au kim tiem va khong co thuoc giai.

Mot trong so cac buc thu co oc o uoc gui en Bo truong Quoc phong Jim Mattis.

So Mat vu My cung ang ieu tra ve mot buc thu uoc gui en Tong thong Trump vao hom thu Hai 1/10.

FBI ang luc soat nha Allen voi nghi ngo con so luong lon chat hoa hoc nguy hiem uoc giau o ay.

Allen phuc vu trong Hai quan Hoa Ky tu thang 10 nam 1998 cho en thang 10 nam 2002.

(Reuters) - Allen is under investigation for letters sent to Pentagon officials and President Donald Trump, a separate law enforcement source said.

The FBI arrested a U.S. Navy veteran on Wednesday as a suspect in its investigation into letters sent to senior U.S. officials initially feared to contain the poison ricin, the U.S. Attorney's Office for Salt Lake City said.

William Clyde Allen III, 39, was arrested at his home in Logan, Utah, on a probable cause warrant and will be charged on Friday, said Melodie Rydalch, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office.

Allen is under investigation for letters sent to Pentagon officials and President Donald Trump, a separate law enforcement source said.

U.S. officials said on Wednesday they had essentially ruled out terrorism in the case in which the envelopes were sent to a Pentagon mail-sorting facility on Tuesday, setting off an alarm for ricin.

A Pentagon spokeswoman said tests showed Tuesday's alert was triggered by castor seeds, from which ricin is derived, rather than the deadly substance itself.

Ricin is found naturally in castor seeds but it takes a deliberate act to convert it into a biological weapon. Ricin can cause death within 36 to 72 hours of exposure to an amount as small as a pinhead. No known antidote exists.

One of the letters was addressed to U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. The U.S. Secret Service said it was investigating a "suspicious envelope" addressed to Trump that was received on Monday, although it never entered the White House.

The FBI said it was investigating "potentially hazardous chemicals" in Logan, which is about 66 miles (106 km) north of Salt Lake City.

Allen served in the U.S. Navy from October 1998 until October 2002, leaving the service as a seaman apprentice, the second-lowest rank, according to the U.S. Navy Office of Information.
"Nhat Ban nen dung viec tiep tuc su dung co hieu cua luc luong hai quan nuoc nay, hay thuong uoc biet en la co 'mat troi moc', tren tau chien tap tran tai Han Quoc vao tuan toi", dan loi tu mot website cua CHDCND Trieu Tien, nhu mot ong thai cung voi Han Quoc phan oi viec goi nho ve mot lich su au thuong va mat mat cua nguoi dan cac quoc gia nay.



Nhieu nguoi dan o hai mien Trieu Tien khi nhin thay la co voi hai mau trang - o cua Nhat Ban eu coi nhu o la bieu tuong cua su xam luoc va chiem ong ban ao Trieu Tien tu nam 1910 en nam 1945 cua quan oi Nhat Ban.

Mot buoi le ha co tren boong tau san bay truc thang Nhat Kaga neo gan cang Jakarta, Indonesia truoc khi khoi hanh cho cac cuoc tap tran hai quan o An o Duong, ngay 21 thang 9 nam 2018.

Trong khi o, Han Quoc cung chinh thuc yeu cau Nhat Ban xem xet lai viec su dung la co tren. ieu nay a tao nen mot lan song tranh cai vo cung manh me tren cac phuong tien truyen thong, mang xa hoi; trong o ac biet van phong Tong thong a nhan uoc toi 250 thu kien nghi cam tau Nhat Ban neu van tiep tuc thuong co. Hai quan Han Quoc hom thu sau cung e nghi phia Nhat Ban chi su dung quoc ky Nhat Ban va quoc ky Han Quoc trong buoi tap tran.



Ngoai truong Kang Kyung-wha cua Han Quoc cung cho biet: "Nhat Ban nen xem xet ay u y nghia tinh cam cua la co 'mat troi moc' oi voi nguoi dan chung toi."



Tuy nhien, bat chap cac loi keu goi va chi trich, cac quan chuc Nhat Ban khang inh la co 'mat troi moc' van se uoc su dung.



Katsutoshi Kawano, Tu lenh Luc luong tu ve Nhat Ban, noi voi cac phong vien hom thu Nam rang can phai co su bao ve cua luc luong tu ve hang hai theo luat. "Chung toi cung co quyen tu hao ve co hieu cua minh, va chung toi cung se khong en o (Han Quoc - pv) ma khong co la co cua minh."



Nhat Ban la yeu to then chot trong cac no luc do My lanh ao e co lap va trung phat Trieu Tien ve cac van e vu khi hat nhan va ten lua an ao, nhung ong thoi cung la tam iem cua nhung chi trich giua thoi iem moi quan he giua hai mien Trieu Tien ang ngay uoc cai thien; ac biet la khi nha lanh ao Trieu Tien Kim Jong-un tham gia vao mot loat cac hoat ong ngoai giao trong nam nay, trong o co ca cac cuoc gap voi phia My va Trung Quoc.

(Reuters) - Japan should refrain from flying the Rising Sun flag on a warship in a fleet review planned in South Korea next week, a North Korean propaganda website said on Friday, joining South Koreans in the latest spat over the countries colonial history.

Many people in both Koreas see the red-and-white flag as a symbol of Japans past military aggression and its occupation of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

In South Korea, which has formally asked Japan to reconsider flying the flag, articles about the controversy are among the most widely read on social media, with the presidents office receiving 250 petitions for the Japanese ship to be barred.

The South Korean Navy said on Friday that Japanese naval ships flew the ensign when they participated in fleet reviews in 1998 and 2008, but it has asked all ships at this years naval review to display national flags and the South Korean flag.

The Rising Sun ensign, used by the Japanese Imperial Navy in campaigns around Asia and the Pacific before and during World War Two, was adopted by the Maritime Self-Defense Force in 1954.

Variations of the flag are used by the ground Self-Defense Force and on the fatigues of some Japanese sailors, but some South Koreans liken the ensign to Nazi symbols such as the swastika.

Japanese officials have signaled the flag will be flown, despite the protests.

Hoisting of the Maritime Self-Defence Force ensign is required by law, Katsutoshi Kawano, the chief of staff of Japans Self Defence Forces, told reporters on Thursday.

Members take pride in the ensign, and we will never go there with the flag unhoisted.

South Koreas foreign ministry had conveyed our stance that the Japanese side should fully consider the Rising Sun flags emotional connotation to our people, Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said on Thursday.

Japan is a key player in United States-led efforts to isolate and punish North Korea over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

But it has remained a major target of criticism, despite warming ties between Pyongyang and Seoul as the Norths leader Kim Jong Un engaged in a flurry of diplomacy this year, during which he also met leaders of the United States and China.

Japan and South Korea often trade barbs over disputed islands known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in Korea.
WarbirdsNews has just received the September, 2018 report from Chuck Cravens concerning the restoration of the Dakota Territory Air Museums P-47D Thunderbolt 42-27609 at AirCorps Aviation in Bemidji, Minnesota. We thought our readers would be very interested to see how the project has progressed since our last article on this important project. So without further ado, here it goes!

Update

During late July and early September restoration emphasis in the AirCorps shop was centered on the intercooler system and its complicated ducting, along with continuing the assembly of the upper fuselage structure. During the month, we were contacted about a possible lead on the squadron assignment. While it remains tentative, if more information can be confirmed I will write about it in subsequent updates.

Each added component, frame, and skin section drives home the fact that the P-47 was the largest single engined fighter of WWII. The size and shape of its massive fuselage was heavily influenced by components of the General Electric super/turbocharging system, the Harrison intercooler, and all the ducting that was necessary to make them both function efficiently.

Fuselage Structure

The rollover structure and the structural frame for the fuselage forward of the cockpit were just some of the projects undertaken this month as the upper fuselage goes together.

Intercooler System

It is easy to see how much space the Harrison intercooler and associated ducting takes up, and why this system had so much to do with the Thunderbolts size and shape.

Parts

Inspection and restoration of parts needed in upcoming steps goes on as always. Another critical task is design and fabrication of the wing jig that will be needed after the fuselage is essentially complete. Steve Wold, of our CAD engineering department, shared his work on that wing fixture. It isnt complete yet, but rather a work in progress.

Lance disassembles and inspects a tail wheel strut. (photo by John LaTourelle)LANCE SUMSTAD, Airframe Component Repair

Our profile subject this time is Lance Sumstad.

Lance is a relatively new face in the restoration shop. His background is varied and interesting and his skills are a welcome addition to the restoration crew at AirCorps Aviation.

Lance was a B-52G crew chief and currently is a licensed outstation A&P mechanic. He owned his own welding and manufacturing business making a wide variety of products including truck utility bodies, trailers, and specialized ice fishing trailer/houses that can be lowered onto the ice surface by rotating the wheel assemblies. Lance also worked as a production manager at a laser and powdercoating business, and designed production equipment for Mann Lake, LTD a beekeeping supply company.

Akeley, Minnesota is where Lance and his wife Sheri call home. They have a grown son and daughter and are blessed with 5 grandchildren The Air Force runs in the family, both of the Sumstad offspring also served.

Bonus Images

And thats all for this month. We wish to thank AirCorps Aviation, Chuck Cravens (words) as well as John LaTourelle (images) for making this report possible! We look forwards to bringing more restoration reports on progress with this rare machine in the coming months.

Is the P-47 Thunderbolt your favorite airplane? Make sure to purchase issue #73 of Warbird Digest featuring the beautiful Dottie Mae
Man who went to space with Shatner dies in plane crash
past daily news Sep 13 (1) Sep 09 (15) Sep 06 (12) Sep 04 (10) Sep 03 (10) Aug 31 (17) Aug 29 (14) Aug 26 (13) Aug 22 (11) Aug 21 (12) Aug 19 (21) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (10) Aug 10 (10) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (10) Aug 06 (10) Aug 05 (8) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (14) Jul 29 (1) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (5) Jul 24 (10) Jul 22 (11) Jul 19 (16) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (10) Jul 15 (13) Jul 12 (7) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (8) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (8) Jul 04 (11) Jul 03 (8) Jul 02 (7) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (8) Jun 28 (7) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (7) Jun 25 (8) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (9) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (9) Jun 18 (8) Jun 15 (9) Jun 13 (13) Jun 11 (11) Jun 09 (19) Jun 06 (10) Jun 04 (10) Jun 03 (8) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (5) May 30 (5) May 29 (6) May 28 (7) May 27 (7) May 26 (6) May 25 (4) May 23 (6) May 22 (6) May 21 (4) May 20 (7) May 19 (9) May 18 (4) May 17 (6) May 16 (5) May 15 (7) May 14 (3) May 13 (3) May 12 (9) May 10 (3) May 09 (7) May 08 (4) May 07 (3) May 06 (5) May 05 (8) May 03 (9) May 02 (1) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (8) Apr 29 (5) Apr 28 (4) Apr 27 (7) Apr 26 (12) Apr 25 (4) Apr 24 (8) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (5) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (1) Apr 19 (5) Apr 18 (3) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (6) Apr 15 (5) Apr 14 (2) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (2) Apr 11 (4) Apr 10 (3) Apr 09 (3) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (5) Apr 06 (3) Apr 05 (10) Apr 04 (2) Apr 03 (3) Apr 02 (9) Apr 01 (7) Mar 31 (10) Mar 30 (6) Mar 29 (7) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (10) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (10) Mar 22 (6) Mar 21 (5) Mar 20 (11) Mar 19 (8) Mar 18 (5) Mar 17 (4) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (7) Mar 13 (7) Mar 12 (5) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (5) Mar 08 (6) Mar 07 (8) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (12) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (8) Mar 02 (6) Mar 01 (8) Feb 28 (7) Feb 27 (5) Feb 26 (6) Feb 25 (7) Feb 24 (3) Feb 23 (6) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (3) Feb 20 (1) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (2) Feb 15 (5) Feb 14 (3) Feb 13 (6) Feb 12 (6) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (6) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (6) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (2) Feb 04 (3) Feb 03 (5) Feb 02 (1) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (8) Jan 30 (2) Jan 29 (4) Jan 28 (1) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (4) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (2) Jan 20 (2) Jan 19 (3) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (2) Jan 16 (7) Jan 15 (6) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (4) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 05 (5) Jan 04 (4) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (1) Dec 31 (5) Dec 29 (4) Dec 28 (5) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (3) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (2) Dec 17 (1) Dec 16 (4) Dec 15 (2) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (7) Dec 12 (5) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (2) Dec 08 (2) Dec 07 (4) Dec 06 (4) Dec 05 (1) Dec 04 (5) Dec 03 (3) Dec 02 (5) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (5) Nov 29 (10) Nov 28 (6) Nov 27 (2) Nov 26 (3) Nov 24 (2) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (6) Nov 19 (2) Nov 18 (5) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (3) Nov 15 (2) Nov 14 (3) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (2) Nov 11 (4) Nov 10 (5) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (5) Nov 05 (4) Nov 04 (5) Nov 02 (4) Nov 01 (4) Oct 31 (9) Oct 30 (9) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (2) Oct 27 (6) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (6) Oct 24 (3) Oct 23 (6) Oct 22 (4) Oct 20 (3) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (5) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (4) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (2) Oct 13 (4) Oct 12 (7) Oct 11 (5) Oct 10 (4) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (10) Oct 07 (1) Oct 06 (10) Oct 05 (6) Oct 04 (8) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (1) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (6) Sep 26 (5) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (6) Sep 23 (5) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (6) Sep 20 (6) Sep 19 (5) Sep 18 (3) Sep 17 (5) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (6) Sep 13 (4) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (4) Sep 06 (8) Sep 05 (6) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (3) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (5) Aug 31 (8) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (6) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (1) Aug 26 (4) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (7) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (4) Aug 21 (4) Aug 20 (7) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (8) Aug 16 (8) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (2) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (4) Aug 08 (8) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (3) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (10) Aug 02 (9) Aug 01 (8) Jul 31 (1) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (2) Jul 28 (11) Jul 27 (10) Jul 26 (10) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (5) Jul 23 (3) Jul 22 (2) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (8) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (1) Jul 16 (10) Jul 14 (7) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (11) Jul 11 (7) Jul 10 (5) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (8) Jul 06 (4) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (6) Jul 03 (7) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (2) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (5) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (6) Jun 23 (4) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (8) Jun 18 (2) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (4) Jun 15 (3) Jun 14 (7) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (7) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (2) Jun 09 (8) Jun 08 (8) Jun 07 (8) Jun 06 (10) Jun 05 (14) Jun 04 (6) Jun 03 (6) Jun 02 (8) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (7) May 30 (2) May 29 (7) May 28 (7) May 27 (2) May 26 (4) May 25 (5) May 24 (4) May 23 (5) May 22 (5) May 21 (5) May 20 (3) May 19 (10) May 18 (6) May 17 (3) May 16 (6) May 15 (2) May 14 (3) May 13 (5) May 11 (1) May 10 (5) May 09 (3) May 08 (4) May 07 (2) May 06 (4) May 05 (6) May 04 (5) May 03 (5) May 02 (1) May 01 (6) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (7) Apr 28 (8) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (14) Apr 25 (6) Apr 24 (6) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (1) Apr 21 (8) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (1) Apr 15 (8) Apr 14 (1) Apr 13 (7) Apr 12 (10) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (2) Apr 09 (2) Apr 08 (4) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (6) Apr 05 (6) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (2) Mar 31 (5) Mar 30 (4) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (9) Mar 26 (4) Mar 25 (5) Mar 24 (11) Mar 23 (10) Mar 22 (9) Mar 21 (10) Mar 20 (11) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (3) Mar 16 (7) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (6) Mar 13 (9) Mar 12 (6) Mar 11 (3) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (5) Mar 08 (6) Mar 07 (13) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (7) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (6) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (4) Feb 26 (5) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (6) Feb 23 (9) Feb 22 (6) Feb 21 (7) Feb 20 (8) Feb 19 (6) Feb 18 (3) Feb 17 (4) Feb 16 (6) Feb 15 (5) Feb 14 (7) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (3) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (9) Feb 08 (8) Feb 07 (7) Feb 06 (10) Feb 05 (7) Feb 04 (2) Feb 03 (8) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (5) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (4) Jan 29 (7) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (7) Jan 26 (8) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (6) Jan 23 (5) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (6) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (8) Jan 17 (12) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (8) Jan 12 (6) Jan 11 (6) Jan 10 (7) Jan 09 (4) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (6) Jan 05 (9) Jan 04 (9) Jan 03 (4) Jan 02 (6) Jan 01 (8) Dec 31 (2) Dec 30 (1) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (8) Dec 26 (4) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (12) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (7) Dec 19 (3) Dec 18 (5) Dec 17 (3) Dec 16 (1) Dec 15 (7) Dec 14 (10) Dec 13 (7) Dec 12 (12) Dec 10 (3) Dec 09 (6) Dec 08 (7) Dec 07 (12) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (13) Dec 04 (6) Dec 02 (8) Dec 01 (8) Nov 30 (6) Nov 29 (7) Nov 28 (7) Nov 27 (4) Nov 26 (8) Nov 24 (2) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (11) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (3) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (7) Nov 17 (6) Nov 16 (11) Nov 15 (10) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (5) Nov 11 (12) Nov 10 (4) Nov 09 (14) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (11) Nov 06 (8) Nov 05 (5) Nov 04 (11) Nov 03 (9) Nov 02 (10) Nov 01 (8) Oct 31 (12) Oct 30 (5) Oct 29 (5) Oct 28 (5) Oct 27 (11) Oct 26 (13) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (10) Oct 23 (8) Oct 22 (5) Oct 21 (11) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (5) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (6) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (9) Oct 13 (10) Oct 12 (11) Oct 11 (9) Oct 10 (10) Oct 09 (7) Oct 08 (5) Oct 07 (10) Oct 06 (9) Oct 05 (14) Oct 04 (9) Oct 03 (12) Oct 02 (4) Oct 01 (9) Sep 30 (5) Sep 29 (7) Sep 28 (13) Sep 27 (10) Sep 26 (11) Sep 25 (3) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (7) Sep 22 (10) Sep 21 (12) Sep 20 (12) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (7) Sep 16 (11) Sep 15 (8) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (8) Sep 12 (8) Sep 11 (6) Sep 10 (10) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (9) Sep 07 (8) Sep 06 (11) Sep 05 (2) Sep 04 (8) Sep 03 (2) Sep 02 (6) Sep 01 (9) Aug 31 (9) Aug 30 (7) Aug 29 (9) Aug 28 (4) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (5) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (4) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (2) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (6) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (4) Aug 16 (6) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (4) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (3) Aug 10 (5) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (7) Aug 06 (7) Aug 05 (7) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (11) Aug 02 (6) Aug 01 (9) Jul 31 (11) Jul 28 (7) Jul 27 (11) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (5) Jul 24 (1) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (2) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (8) Jul 18 (6) Jul 17 (7) Jul 15 (4) Jul 14 (2) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (10) Jul 11 (11) Jul 10 (2) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (5) Jul 06 (6) Jul 05 (3) Jul 04 (6) Jul 03 (5) Jul 02 (3) Jun 30 (8) Jun 29 (5) Jun 28 (6) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (4) Jun 25 (1) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (11) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (7) Jun 17 (4) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (4) Jun 14 (6) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (4) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (6) Jun 09 (8) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (8) Jun 06 (7) Jun 05 (5) Jun 04 (7) Jun 03 (1) Jun 02 (9) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (8) May 30 (7) May 29 (5) May 28 (5) May 27 (4) May 26 (4) May 25 (4) May 24 (3) May 23 (5) May 22 (2) May 21 (3) May 20 (7) May 19 (11) May 18 (1) May 17 (7) May 16 (3) May 15 (4) May 14 (3) May 13 (4) May 12 (4) May 11 (11) May 10 (2) May 09 (6) May 08 (6) May 07 (2) May 06 (3) May 05 (4) May 04 (5) May 03 (8) May 02 (4) May 01 (4) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (13) Apr 28 (5) Apr 27 (7) Apr 26 (5) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (2) Apr 23 (7) Apr 22 (9) Apr 21 (11) Apr 20 (2) Apr 19 (2) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (6) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (2) Apr 12 (9) Apr 11 (10) Apr 10 (6) Apr 09 (5) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (10) Apr 06 (7) Apr 05 (7) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (9) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (7) Mar 28 (4) Mar 27 (3) Mar 26 (6) Mar 25 (3) Mar 24 (8) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (10) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (6) Mar 17 (7) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (4) Mar 12 (6) Mar 10 (3) Mar 09 (9) Mar 08 (10) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (2) Mar 03 (4) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (5) Feb 28 (3) Feb 27 (8) Feb 26 (9) Feb 24 (11) Feb 23 (8) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (8) Feb 20 (7) Feb 19 (4) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (6) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (7) Feb 14 (11) Feb 13 (2) Feb 12 (5) Feb 11 (5) Feb 10 (3) Feb 09 (10) Feb 08 (9) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (2) Feb 05 (9) Feb 03 (7) Feb 02 (5) Feb 01 (7) Jan 31 (4) Jan 30 (5) Jan 29 (6) Jan 28 (5) Jan 27 (2) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (7) Jan 24 (8) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (14) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (10) Jan 18 (11) Jan 17 (9) Jan 16 (5) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (7) Jan 10 (2) Jan 09 (7) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (10) Jan 06 (8) Jan 05 (7) Jan 04 (9) Jan 03 (8) Jan 02 (5) Jan 01 (14) Dec 30 (13) Dec 29 (13) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (5) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (7) Dec 24 (4) Dec 23 (5) Dec 22 (4) Dec 21 (8) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (8) Dec 18 (9) Dec 16 (8) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (5) Dec 13 (8) Dec 12 (4) Dec 11 (17) Dec 09 (8) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (10) Dec 06 (12) Dec 05 (6) Dec 04 (8) Dec 02 (6) Dec 01 (7) Nov 30 (9) Nov 29 (6) Nov 28 (11) Nov 27 (6) Nov 26 (15) Nov 24 (7) Nov 23 (15) Nov 22 (9) Nov 21 (6) Nov 20 (11) Nov 18 (11) Nov 17 (13) Nov 16 (8) Nov 15 (13) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (7) Nov 12 (3) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (13) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (6) Nov 06 (4) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (8) Nov 03 (9) Nov 02 (8) Nov 01 (6) Oct 31 (10) Oct 30 (8) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (8) Oct 27 (15) Oct 26 (10) Oct 25 (10) Oct 24 (13) Oct 23 (9) Oct 21 (8) Oct 20 (13) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (8) Oct 16 (14) Oct 14 (9) Oct 13 (11) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (13) Oct 10 (7) Oct 09 (15) Oct 07 (7) Oct 06 (11) Oct 05 (18) Oct 04 (14) Oct 03 (1) Oct 02 (10) Sep 30 (11) Sep 29 (11) Sep 28 (11) Sep 27 (15) Sep 26 (7) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (11) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (17) Sep 20 (20) Sep 19 (4) Sep 18 (11) Sep 16 (10) Sep 15 (12) Sep 14 (9) Sep 13 (12) Sep 12 (14) Sep 11 (4) Sep 10 (8) Sep 09 (9) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (13) Sep 06 (15) Sep 05 (8) Sep 04 (11) Sep 03 (10) Sep 02 (12) Sep 01 (12) Aug 31 (14) Aug 30 (14) Aug 29 (8) Aug 28 (8) Aug 27 (9) Aug 26 (12) Aug 25 (6) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (12) Aug 22 (6) Aug 21 (5) Aug 20 (6) Aug 19 (9) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (7) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (2) Aug 14 (12) Aug 12 (15) Aug 11 (11) Aug 10 (6) Aug 09 (7) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (5) Aug 05 (7) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (4) Aug 02 (5) Aug 01 (5) Jul 31 (7) Jul 30 (5) Jul 29 (9) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (8) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (6) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (6) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (5) Jul 18 (15) Jul 15 (14) Jul 14 (5) Jul 13 (6) Jul 12 (12) Jul 11 (8) Jul 10 (3) Jul 09 (11) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (7) Jul 06 (10) Jul 05 (4) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (5) Jul 02 (7) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (10) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (2) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (5) Jun 21 (7) Jun 20 (3) Jun 19 (7) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (11) Jun 16 (5) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (7) Jun 13 (14) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (8) Jun 09 (9) Jun 08 (11) Jun 07 (14) Jun 06 (16) Jun 03 (8) Jun 02 (12) Jun 01 (5) May 31 (7) May 30 (15) May 28 (7) May 27 (5) May 26 (21) May 25 (14) May 24 (10) May 23 (7) May 22 (8) May 21 (11) May 20 (5) May 19 (4) May 18 (10) May 17 (11) May 16 (5) May 15 (6) May 14 (7) May 13 (12) May 12 (10) May 11 (7) May 10 (13) May 09 (4) May 08 (7) May 07 (3) May 06 (6) May 05 (9) May 04 (14) May 03 (7) May 02 (10) May 01 (10) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (9) Apr 28 (5) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (8) Apr 24 (6) Apr 23 (14) Apr 22 (16) Apr 21 (11) Apr 20 (7) Apr 19 (16) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (10) Apr 15 (8) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (11) Apr 12 (10) Apr 11 (8) Apr 10 (12) Apr 09 (5) Apr 08 (13) Apr 07 (9) Apr 06 (11) Apr 05 (15) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (15) Apr 02 (5) Apr 01 (11) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (10) Mar 29 (8) Mar 28 (7) Mar 27 (12) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (8) Mar 24 (7) Mar 23 (15) Mar 22 (17) Mar 21 (9) Mar 20 (8) Mar 19 (4) Mar 18 (16) Mar 17 (8) Mar 16 (19) Mar 15 (13) Mar 14 (7) Mar 13 (20) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (11) Mar 09 (13) Mar 08 (13) Mar 07 (7) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (9) Mar 04 (10) Mar 03 (16) Mar 02 (16) Mar 01 (13) Feb 29 (8) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (16) Feb 26 (10) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (12) Feb 23 (14) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (11) Feb 20 (8) Feb 19 (12) Feb 18 (12) Feb 17 (11) Feb 16 (8) Feb 15 (9) Feb 14 (7) Feb 13 (10) Feb 12 (11) Feb 11 (13) Feb 10 (5) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (4) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (13) Feb 05 (10) Feb 04 (11) Feb 03 (7) Feb 02 (19) Jan 31 (21) Jan 29 (11) Jan 28 (10) Jan 27 (13) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (2) Jan 23 (8) Jan 22 (13) Jan 21 (11) Jan 20 (9) Jan 19 (13) Jan 18 (4) Jan 17 (11) Jan 15 (7) Jan 14 (13) Jan 13 (9) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (5) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (7) Jan 08 (7) Jan 07 (6) Jan 06 (11) Jan 05 (7) Jan 04 (7) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (8) Jan 01 (5) Dec 31 (10) Dec 30 (9) Dec 29 (7) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (1) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (6) Dec 23 (6) Dec 22 (7) Dec 21 (6) Dec 20 (7) Dec 19 (13) Dec 18 (16) Dec 17 (10) Dec 16 (13) Dec 15 (11) Dec 14 (8) Dec 13 (4) Dec 12 (9) Dec 11 (10) Dec 10 (12) Dec 09 (10) Dec 08 (13) Dec 07 (7) Dec 06 (12) Dec 05 (8) Dec 04 (11) Dec 03 (12) Dec 02 (16) Dec 01 (14) Nov 30 (10) Nov 29 (11) Nov 28 (15) Nov 27 (16) Nov 26 (11) Nov 25 (9) Nov 24 (13) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (1) Nov 21 (7) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (11) Nov 17 (11) Nov 16 (10) Nov 15 (3) Nov 14 (10) Nov 13 (14) Nov 12 (8) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (10) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (9) Nov 07 (11) Nov 06 (12) Nov 05 (17) Nov 04 (12) Nov 03 (11) Nov 02 (5) Nov 01 (12) Oct 31 (11) Oct 30 (11) Oct 29 (10) Oct 28 (18) Oct 27 (16) Oct 26 (11) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (12) Oct 23 (11) Oct 22 (14) Oct 21 (12) Oct 20 (17) Oct 19 (12) Oct 18 (13) Oct 17 (15) Oct 16 (14) Oct 15 (10) Oct 14 (16) Oct 13 (12) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (8) Oct 10 (12) Oct 09 (21) Oct 08 (22) Oct 07 (19) Oct 06 (18) Oct 05 (6) Oct 04 (17) Oct 03 (13) Oct 02 (14) Oct 01 (13) Sep 30 (14) Sep 29 (15) Sep 28 (12) Sep 27 (11) Sep 26 (15) Sep 25 (13) Sep 24 (9) Sep 23 (10) Sep 22 (12) Sep 21 (8) Sep 20 (4) Sep 19 (12) Sep 18 (12) Sep 17 (16) Sep 16 (21) Sep 15 (14) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (10) Sep 11 (16) Sep 10 (7) Sep 09 (8) Sep 08 (10) Sep 07 (7) Sep 06 (5) Sep 05 (8) Sep 04 (9) Sep 03 (8) Sep 02 (11) Sep 01 (10) Aug 31 (4) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (1) Aug 28 (10) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (8) Aug 25 (14) Aug 24 (4) Aug 23 (3) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (13) Aug 20 (9) Aug 19 (13) Aug 18 (3) Aug 17 (3) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (8) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (12) Aug 11 (9) Aug 10 (8) Aug 09 (14) Aug 08 (6) Aug 07 (1) Aug 06 (4) Aug 05 (8) Aug 04 (6) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (2) Aug 01 (6) Jul 31 (6) Jul 30 (3) Jul 29 (6) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (6) Jul 23 (5) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (5) Jul 18 (6) Jul 17 (5) Jul 16 (4) Jul 15 (9) Jul 14 (2) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (1) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (8) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (3) Jul 07 (13) Jul 05 (2) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (7) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (1) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (7) Jun 25 (4) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (9) Jun 22 (4) Jun 21 (3) Jun 19 (4) Jun 18 (7) Jun 17 (7) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (11) Jun 12 (6) Jun 11 (3) Jun 10 (10) Jun 09 (3) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (4) Jun 06 (2) Jun 05 (9) Jun 04 (8) Jun 03 (9) Jun 02 (6) Jun 01 (4) May 30 (7) May 29 (9) May 28 (13) May 26 (8) May 25 (5) May 24 (2) May 23 (8) May 22 (9) May 21 (7) May 20 (4) May 19 (6) May 18 (7) May 17 (8) May 15 (9) May 14 (5) May 13 (8) May 12 (6) May 11 (6) May 09 (7) May 08 (6) May 07 (11) May 06 (7) May 05 (4) May 04 (11) May 03 (5) May 02 (4) May 01 (9) Apr 30 (6) Apr 29 (4) Apr 28 (9) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (3) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (10) Apr 22 (8) Apr 21 (9) Apr 20 (3) Apr 19 (4) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (7) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (6) Apr 14 (8) Apr 13 (3) Apr 12 (6) Apr 10 (2) Apr 09 (4) Apr 08 (5) Apr 07 (5) Apr 06 (2) Apr 05 (2) Apr 04 (5) Apr 03 (7) Apr 02 (7) Apr 01 (12) Mar 31 (12) Mar 30 (3) Mar 29 (1) Mar 28 (2) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (2) Mar 25 (5) Mar 24 (4) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (4) Mar 21 (6) Mar 20 (9) Mar 19 (9) Mar 18 (8) Mar 17 (9) Mar 16 (7) Mar 15 (11) Mar 13 (5) Mar 12 (12) Mar 11 (9) Mar 10 (12) Mar 09 (4) Mar 08 (5) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (5) Mar 05 (5) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (11) Mar 02 (5) Mar 01 (8) Feb 27 (9) Feb 26 (9) Feb 25 (8) Feb 24 (6) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (3) Feb 21 (6) Feb 20 (3) Feb 19 (10) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (7) Feb 16 (5) Feb 15 (2) Feb 14 (8) Feb 13 (12) Feb 12 (8) Feb 11 (10) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (6) Feb 08 (3) Feb 07 (2) Feb 06 (7) Feb 05 (4) Feb 04 (11) Feb 03 (5) Feb 02 (7) Feb 01 (4) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (8) Jan 29 (12) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (8) Jan 26 (13) Jan 24 (8) Jan 23 (12) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (10) Jan 20 (8) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (9) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (11) Jan 14 (4) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (6) Jan 10 (2) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (6) Jan 06 (4) Jan 05 (4) Jan 04 (3) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (2) Jan 01 (3) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (4) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (3) Dec 24 (5) Dec 23 (7) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (4) Dec 20 (4) Dec 19 (5) Dec 18 (8) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (9) Dec 15 (7) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (10) Dec 12 (10) Dec 11 (9) Dec 10 (10) Dec 09 (11) Dec 08 (5) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (9) Dec 04 (3) Dec 03 (8) Dec 02 (10) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (1) Nov 29 (3) Nov 28 (9) Nov 27 (3) Nov 26 (7) Nov 25 (12) Nov 24 (3) Nov 23 (8) Nov 22 (4) Nov 21 (3) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (6) Nov 18 (10) Nov 17 (12) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (5) Nov 14 (12) Nov 13 (3) Nov 12 (7) Nov 11 (8) Nov 10 (7) Nov 09 (6) Nov 08 (5) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (6) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (9) Nov 03 (6) Nov 02 (14) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (6) Oct 30 (7) Oct 29 (9) Oct 28 (9) Oct 27 (3) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (8) Oct 23 (4) Oct 22 (3) Oct 21 (4) Oct 20 (2) Oct 19 (11) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (7) Oct 15 (7) Oct 14 (8) Oct 13 (5) Oct 12 (8) Oct 11 (6) Oct 10 (5) Oct 09 (11) Oct 08 (10) Oct 07 (8) Oct 06 (3) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (8) Oct 03 (3) Oct 02 (10) Oct 01 (3) Sep 30 (7) Sep 29 (6) Sep 28 (5) Sep 27 (8) Sep 26 (11) Sep 25 (11) Sep 24 (15) Sep 23 (8) Sep 22 (9) Sep 21 (4) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (9) Sep 18 (10) Sep 17 (10) Sep 16 (5) Sep 15 (5) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (5) Sep 12 (5) Sep 11 (8) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (7) Sep 08 (5) Sep 07 (2) Sep 06 (4) Sep 05 (7) Sep 04 (11) Sep 03 (7) Sep 02 (7) Sep 01 (2) Aug 31 (3) Aug 30 (1) Aug 29 (10) Aug 28 (5) Aug 27 (4) Aug 26 (10) Aug 25 (6) Aug 24 (9) Aug 22 (11) Aug 21 (8) Aug 20 (12) Aug 19 (8) Aug 18 (4) Aug 17 (4) Aug 16 (3) Aug 15 (6) Aug 14 (4) Aug 13 (7) Aug 12 (8) Aug 11 (7) Aug 10 (12) Aug 08 (5) Aug 07 (6) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (8) Aug 04 (5) Aug 03 (4) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (6) Jul 30 (12) Jul 29 (4) Jul 28 (5) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (8) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (3) Jul 21 (8) Jul 20 (6) Jul 19 (3) Jul 18 (8) Jul 17 (2) Jul 16 (7) Jul 15 (6) Jul 14 (9) Jul 13 (10) Jul 11 (9) Jul 10 (8) Jul 09 (3) Jul 08 (7) Jul 07 (7) Jul 06 (7) Jul 05 (10) Jul 04 (4) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (5) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (1) Jun 27 (15) Jun 26 (10) Jun 25 (9) Jun 24 (16) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (12) Jun 20 (6) Jun 19 (8) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (6) Jun 16 (7) Jun 15 (5) Jun 14 (5) Jun 13 (13) Jun 12 (7) Jun 11 (14) Jun 10 (3) Jun 09 (2) Jun 08 (2) Jun 07 (7) Jun 06 (16) Jun 05 (7) Jun 04 (18) Jun 03 (12) Jun 02 (8) May 31 (3) May 30 (6) May 29 (6) May 28 (7) May 27 (4) May 26 (4) May 25 (6) May 23 (4) May 22 (8) May 21 (5) May 20 (6) May 19 (2) May 18 (9) May 17 (1) May 16 (5) May 15 (5) May 14 (7) May 13 (7) May 12 (7) May 11 (4) May 10 (4) May 09 (5) May 08 (10) May 07 (4) May 06 (13) May 05 (4) May 04 (10) May 02 (2) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (9) Apr 29 (6) Apr 28 (3) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (9) Apr 25 (9) Apr 24 (7) Apr 23 (11) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (3) Apr 20 (10) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (5) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (6) Apr 15 (7) Apr 14 (11) Apr 13 (4) Apr 12 (5) Apr 11 (9) Apr 10 (4) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (6) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (6) Apr 05 (10) Apr 03 (9) Apr 02 (9) Apr 01 (12) Mar 31 (4) Mar 30 (9) Mar 29 (10) Mar 28 (7) Mar 27 (8) Mar 26 (8) Mar 25 (15) Mar 24 (11) Mar 23 (8) Mar 22 (7) Mar 21 (14) Mar 20 (6) Mar 19 (11) Mar 18 (11) Mar 17 (12) Mar 16 (8) Mar 15 (8) Mar 14 (13) Mar 13 (8) Mar 12 (10) Mar 11 (8) Mar 10 (7) Mar 09 (3) Mar 08 (12) Mar 07 (15) Mar 06 (16) Mar 05 (9) Mar 04 (6) Mar 03 (12) Mar 02 (20) Feb 28 (11) Feb 27 (8) Feb 26 (11) Feb 25 (6) Feb 24 (14) Feb 23 (5) Feb 22 (6) Feb 21 (8) Feb 20 (11) Feb 19 (7) Feb 18 (4) Feb 17 (8) Feb 16 (11) Feb 15 (3) Feb 14 (10) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (10) Feb 11 (7) Feb 10 (7) Feb 09 (4) Feb 08 (6) Feb 07 (5) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (10) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (4) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (3) Jan 30 (5) Jan 29 (2) Jan 28 (6) Jan 27 (3) Jan 26 (2) Jan 25 (5) Jan 24 (7) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (4) Jan 21 (5) Jan 20 (5) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (7) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (4) Jan 15 (3) Jan 14 (5) Jan 13 (4) Jan 12 (5) Jan 11 (3) Jan 10 (5) Jan 09 (6) Jan 08 (6) Jan 07 (3) Jan 06 (1) Jan 05 (4) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (3) Jan 02 (6) Jan 01 (2) Dec 31 (6) Dec 30 (1) Dec 29 (5) Dec 27 (1) Dec 26 (2) Dec 25 (4) Dec 24 (8) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (1) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (8) Dec 18 (3) Dec 17 (4) Dec 16 (3) Dec 15 (3) Dec 14 (3) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (4) Dec 11 (4) Dec 10 (7) Dec 09 (5) Dec 08 (2) Dec 07 (5) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (10) Dec 04 (9) Dec 03 (4) Dec 02 (2) Dec 01 (8) Nov 29 (5) Nov 28 (7) Nov 27 (5) Nov 26 (9) Nov 25 (3) Nov 24 (5) Nov 23 (6) Nov 22 (5) Nov 21 (12) Nov 20 (12) Nov 19 (10) Nov 18 (4) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (8) Nov 15 (7) Nov 14 (7) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (12) Nov 11 (6) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (4) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (5) Nov 06 (5) Nov 05 (9) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (4) Nov 02 (3) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (10) Oct 30 (4) Oct 29 (11) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (7) Oct 26 (7) Oct 25 (6) Oct 24 (7) Oct 23 (11) Oct 22 (2) Oct 21 (7) Oct 20 (4) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (7) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (8) Oct 15 (5) Oct 14 (5) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (7) Oct 11 (20) Oct 10 (2) Oct 09 (4) Oct 08 (21) Oct 07 (20) Oct 06 (34) Oct 04 (24) Oct 03 (21) Oct 02 (3) Oct 01 (7) Sep 30 (3) Sep 29 (5) Sep 28 (6) Sep 27 (5) Sep 26 (6) Sep 25 (5) Sep 24 (2) Sep 23 (8) Sep 22 (4) Sep 21 (3) Sep 20 (9) Sep 19 (11) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (7) Sep 16 (6) Sep 15 (3) Sep 14 (7) Sep 13 (8) Sep 12 (11) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (6) Sep 09 (5) Sep 08 (3) Sep 07 (6) Sep 06 (10) Sep 05 (7) Sep 04 (7) Sep 03 (5) Sep 02 (4) Sep 01 (8) Aug 31 (5) Aug 30 (7) Aug 29 (10) Aug 28 (7) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (3) Aug 24 (8) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (6) Aug 21 (8) Aug 20 (8) Aug 19 (4) Aug 18 (2) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (7) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (3) Aug 13 (4) Aug 12 (6) Aug 11 (6) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (6) Aug 07 (4) Aug 06 (6) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (12) Aug 03 (3) Aug 02 (4) Aug 01 (10) Jul 31 (3) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (6) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (5) Jul 25 (4) Jul 24 (7) Jul 23 (10) Jul 22 (8) Jul 21 (5) Jul 20 (4) Jul 19 (7) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (10) Jul 16 (11) Jul 15 (5) Jul 13 (5) Jul 12 (9) Jul 11 (11) Jul 10 (12) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (8) Jul 06 (9) Jul 05 (10) Jul 04 (8) Jul 03 (10) Jul 02 (12) Jul 01 (8) Jun 30 (5) Jun 29 (6) Jun 28 (23) Jun 27 (18) Jun 26 (12) Jun 25 (14) Jun 24 (15) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (11) Jun 21 (15) Jun 20 (9) Jun 19 (8) Jun 18 (11) Jun 17 (7) Jun 16 (6) Jun 15 (6) Jun 14 (6) Jun 13 (5) Jun 12 (6) Jun 11 (9) Jun 10 (10) Jun 09 (9) Jun 08 (6) Jun 07 (2) Jun 06 (6) Jun 05 (4) Jun 04 (3) Jun 03 (4) Jun 02 (3) Jun 01 (6) May 31 (3) May 30 (5) May 29 (8) May 28 (7) May 27 (2) May 26 (2) May 25 (8) May 24 (7) May 23 (6) May 22 (9) May 21 (6) May 20 (5) May 19 (6) May 18 (9) May 17 (10) May 16 (11) May 15 (5) May 14 (11) May 13 (6) May 12 (7) May 11 (7) May 10 (5) May 09 (3) May 08 (10) May 07 (8) May 06 (11) May 05 (5) May 04 (9) May 03 (3) May 02 (2) May 01 (5) Apr 30 (5) Apr 29 (8) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (4) Apr 26 (9) Apr 25 (11) Apr 24 (4) Apr 23 (11) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (7) Apr 19 (10) Apr 18 (8) Apr 17 (10) Apr 16 (8) Apr 15 (4) Apr 14 (5) Apr 13 (7) Apr 12 (11) Apr 11 (6) Apr 10 (7) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (3) Apr 07 (3) Apr 06 (9) Apr 05 (10) Apr 04 (7) Apr 03 (2) Apr 02 (6) Apr 01 (4) Mar 31 (3) Mar 30 (4) Mar 29 (3) Mar 28 (5) Mar 27 (10) Mar 26 (5) Mar 25 (4) Mar 24 (5) Mar 23 (7) Mar 22 (6) Mar 21 (9) Mar 20 (5) Mar 19 (5) Mar 18 (9) Mar 17 (2) Mar 16 (8) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (10) Mar 12 (10) Mar 11 (2) Mar 10 (1) Mar 09 (6) Mar 08 (4) Mar 07 (4) Mar 06 (3) Mar 05 (3) Mar 04 (7) Mar 03 (6) Mar 02 (8) Mar 01 (9) Feb 28 (6) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (7) Feb 24 (3) Feb 23 (4) Feb 22 (4) Feb 21 (7) Feb 20 (4) Feb 19 (4) Feb 18 (2) Feb 17 (1) Feb 16 (6) Feb 15 (6) Feb 14 (5) Feb 13 (4) Feb 12 (7) Feb 11 (2) Feb 10 (2) Feb 09 (5) Feb 08 (5) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (4) Feb 05 (9) Feb 04 (3) Feb 03 (3) Feb 02 (10) Feb 01 (9) Jan 31 (5) Jan 30 (8) Jan 29 (5) Jan 28 (3) Jan 27 (4) Jan 26 (5) Jan 25 (6) Jan 24 (5) Jan 23 (4) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (3) Jan 20 (3) Jan 19 (7) Jan 18 (3) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (8) Jan 15 (7) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (1) Jan 12 (7) Jan 11 (1) Jan 10 (3) Jan 09 (3) Jan 08 (5) Jan 07 (4) Jan 06 (2) Jan 05 (3) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (4) Jan 02 (4) Jan 01 (4) Dec 31 (3) Dec 30 (4) Dec 29 (5) Dec 28 (8) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (2) Dec 24 (4) Dec 23 (4) Dec 22 (7) Dec 21 (5) Dec 20 (3) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (6) Dec 17 (4) Dec 16 (5) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (8) Dec 13 (3) Dec 12 (6) Dec 11 (8) Dec 10 (5) Dec 09 (4) Dec 08 (4) Dec 07 (7) Dec 06 (7) Dec 05 (6) Dec 04 (6) Dec 03 (7) Dec 02 (1) Dec 01 (6) Nov 30 (2) Nov 29 (8) Nov 28 (16) Nov 27 (7) Nov 26 (5) Nov 25 (2) Nov 24 (6) Nov 23 (5) Nov 22 (5) Nov 21 (5) Nov 20 (15) Nov 19 (8) Nov 18 (2) Nov 17 (3) Nov 16 (5) Nov 15 (7) Nov 14 (6) Nov 13 (9) Nov 12 (7) Nov 11 (8) Nov 10 (3) Nov 09 (5) Nov 08 (8) Nov 07 (9) Nov 06 (9) Nov 05 (1) Nov 04 (4) Nov 03 (8) Nov 02 (6) Nov 01 (3) Oct 31 (6) Oct 30 (7) Oct 29 (3) Oct 28 (3) Oct 27 (4) Oct 26 (4) Oct 25 (8) Oct 24 (4) Oct 23 (1) Oct 22 (6) Oct 21 (1) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (6) Oct 18 (10) Oct 17 (6) Oct 16 (15) Oct 15 (4) Oct 14 (5) Oct 13 (3) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (7) Oct 10 (1) Oct 09 (5) Oct 08 (7) Oct 07 (3) Oct 06 (8) Oct 05 (5) Oct 04 (3) Oct 03 (7) Oct 02 (6) Oct 01 (6) Sep 30 (8) Sep 29 (6) Sep 28 (13) Sep 27 (10) Sep 26 (8) Sep 25 (8) Sep 24 (8) Sep 23 (3) Sep 22 (7) Sep 21 (9) Sep 20 (7) Sep 19 (8) Sep 18 (4) Sep 17 (3) Sep 16 (4) Sep 15 (8) Sep 14 (5) Sep 13 (7) Sep 12 (7) Sep 11 (9) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (10) Sep 08 (4) Sep 07 (12) Sep 06 (13) Sep 05 (15) Sep 04 (5) Sep 03 (4) Sep 02 (6) Sep 01 (9) Aug 31 (7) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (8) Aug 28 (11) Aug 27 (2) Aug 26 (6) Aug 25 (15) Aug 24 (6) Aug 23 (8) Aug 22 (5) Aug 21 (6) Aug 20 (7) Aug 19 (2) Aug 18 (5) Aug 17 (5) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (4) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (9) Aug 12 (4) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (6) Aug 09 (5) Aug 08 (7) Aug 07 (9) Aug 06 (4) Aug 05 (4) Aug 04 (4) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (9) Aug 01 (10) Jul 31 (11) Jul 30 (4) Jul 29 (3) Jul 28 (11) Jul 27 (4) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (8) Jul 22 (5) Jul 21 (4) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (6) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (7) Jul 15 (6) Jul 14 (4) Jul 13 (7) Jul 12 (8) Jul 11 (6) Jul 10 (14) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (5) Jul 07 (4) Jul 06 (9) Jul 05 (8) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (8) Jul 02 (5) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (6) Jun 29 (3) Jun 28 (3) Jun 27 (4) Jun 26 (8) Jun 25 (3) Jun 24 (5) Jun 23 (14) Jun 22 (11) Jun 21 (5) Jun 20 (8) Jun 19 (7) Jun 18 (4) Jun 17 (3) Jun 16 (12) Jun 15 (12) Jun 14 (10) Jun 13 (10) Jun 12 (9) Jun 11 (6) Jun 10 (12) Jun 09 (4) Jun 08 (3) Jun 07 (12) Jun 06 (6) Jun 05 (7) Jun 04 (6) Jun 03 (3) Jun 02 (4) Jun 01 (8) May 31 (4) May 30 (3) May 29 (8) May 28 (7) May 27 (4) May 26 (3) May 25 (5) May 24 (9) May 23 (16) May 22 (12) May 21 (11) May 20 (7) May 19 (10) May 18 (8) May 17 (8) May 16 (10) May 15 (8) May 14 (5) May 13 (1) May 12 (6) May 11 (9) May 10 (9) May 09 (10) May 08 (9) May 07 (6) May 06 (5) May 05 (7) May 04 (10) May 03 (7) May 02 (9) May 01 (10) Apr 30 (4) Apr 29 (9) Apr 28 (12) Apr 27 (9) Apr 26 (4) Apr 25 (5) Apr 24 (9) Apr 23 (4) Apr 22 (7) Apr 21 (8) Apr 20 (9) Apr 19 (6) Apr 18 (4) Apr 17 (2) Apr 16 (4) Apr 15 (10) Apr 14 (7) Apr 13 (5) Apr 12 (7) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (7) Apr 09 (6) Apr 08 (7) Apr 07 (10) Apr 06 (8) Apr 05 (8) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (6) Apr 02 (4) Apr 01 (4) Mar 31 (11) Mar 30 (12) Mar 29 (16) Mar 28 (8) Mar 27 (10) Mar 26 (12) Mar 25 (6) Mar 24 (9) Mar 23 (3) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (12) Mar 20 (14) Mar 19 (8) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (8) Mar 16 (4) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (9) Mar 12 (6) Mar 11 (5) Mar 10 (13) Mar 09 (8) Mar 08 (10) Mar 07 (12) Mar 06 (6) Mar 05 (4) Mar 04 (2) Mar 03 (3) Mar 02 (12) Mar 01 (8) Feb 29 (11) Feb 28 (5) Feb 27 (3) Feb 26 (13) Feb 25 (10) Feb 24 (13) Feb 23 (10) Feb 22 (9) Feb 21 (18) Feb 20 (6) Feb 19 (7) Feb 18 (9) Feb 17 (5) Feb 16 (9) Feb 15 (7) Feb 14 (6) Feb 13 (5) Feb 12 (6) Feb 11 (4) Feb 10 (8) Feb 09 (5) Feb 08 (8) Feb 07 (10) Feb 06 (7) Feb 05 (7) Feb 04 (5) Feb 03 (11) Feb 02 (4) Feb 01 (3) Jan 31 (12) Jan 30 (7) Jan 29 (7) Jan 28 (7) Jan 27 (12) Jan 26 (7) Jan 25 (11) Jan 24 (4) Jan 23 (6) Jan 22 (8) Jan 21 (12) Jan 20 (11) Jan 19 (6) Jan 18 (6) Jan 17 (11) Jan 16 (9) Jan 15 (4) Jan 14 (3) Jan 13 (6) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (9) Jan 10 (10) Jan 09 (5) Jan 08 (10) Jan 07 (5) Jan 06 (6) Jan 05 (8) Jan 04 (5) Jan 03 (8) Jan 02 (7) Jan 01 (7) Dec 31 (10) Dec 30 (11) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (5) Dec 27 (10) Dec 26 (4) Dec 25 (5) Dec 24 (7) Dec 23 (2) Dec 22 (9) Dec 21 (8) Dec 20 (8) Dec 19 (5) Dec 18 (1) Dec 17 (5) Dec 16 (6) Dec 15 (5) Dec 14 (13) Dec 13 (8) Dec 12 (7) Dec 11 (9) Dec 10 (12) Dec 09 (7) Dec 08 (11) Dec 07 (9) Dec 06 (11) Dec 05 (10) Dec 04 (6) Dec 03 (8) Dec 02 (6) Dec 01 (14) Nov 30 (7) Nov 29 (8) Nov 28 (8) Nov 27 (6) Nov 26 (9) Nov 25 (10) Nov 24 (12) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (10) Nov 20 (4) Nov 19 (4) Nov 18 (8) Nov 17 (9) Nov 16 (9) Nov 15 (12) Nov 14 (6) Nov 13 (9) Nov 12 (3) Nov 11 (9) Nov 10 (10) Nov 09 (10) Nov 08 (7) Nov 07 (8) Nov 06 (10) Nov 05 (8) Nov 04 (7) Nov 03 (10) Nov 02 (11) Nov 01 (10) Oct 31 (5) Oct 30 (8) Oct 29 (8) Oct 28 (8) Oct 27 (11) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (9) Oct 24 (10) Oct 23 (5) Oct 22 (14) Oct 21 (10) Oct 20 (8) Oct 19 (11) Oct 18 (13) Oct 17 (7) Oct 16 (6) Oct 15 (9) Oct 14 (7) Oct 13 (12) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (9) Oct 10 (8) Oct 09 (9) Oct 08 (7) Oct 07 (12) Oct 06 (8) Oct 05 (13) Oct 04 (11) Oct 03 (7) Oct 02 (5) Oct 01 (14) Sep 30 (12) Sep 29 (12) Sep 28 (11) Sep 27 (11) Sep 26 (7) Sep 25 (10) Sep 24 (3) Sep 23 (7) Sep 22 (8) Sep 21 (8) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (7) Sep 18 (5) Sep 17 (14) Sep 16 (7) Sep 15 (11) Sep 14 (13) Sep 13 (11) Sep 12 (9) Sep 11 (5) Sep 10 (4) Sep 09 (13) Sep 08 (11) Sep 07 (11) Sep 06 (16) Sep 05 (1) Sep 04 (10) Sep 03 (8) Sep 02 (8) Sep 01 (7) Aug 31 (1) Aug 30 (6) Aug 29 (2) Aug 28 (3) Aug 27 (6) Aug 26 (8) Aug 25 (5) Aug 24 (5) Aug 23 (6) Aug 22 (7) Aug 21 (6) Aug 20 (4) Aug 19 (9) Aug 18 (7) Aug 17 (7) Aug 16 (10) Aug 15 (2) Aug 14 (5) Aug 13 (5) Aug 12 (10) Aug 11 (5) Aug 10 (4) Aug 09 (8) Aug 08 (3) Aug 07 (5) Aug 06 (12) Aug 05 (5) Aug 04 (7) Aug 03 (6) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (14) Jul 31 (7) Jul 30 (7) Jul 29 (13) Jul 28 (10) Jul 27 (6) Jul 26 (7) Jul 25 (7) Jul 24 (4) Jul 23 (12) Jul 22 (14) Jul 21 (6) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (12) Jul 18 (9) Jul 17 (4) Jul 16 (6) Jul 15 (8) Jul 14 (15) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (10) Jul 11 (6) Jul 10 (6) Jul 09 (6) Jul 08 (6) Jul 07 (9) Jul 06 (15) Jul 05 (6) Jul 04 (10) Jul 03 (6) Jul 02 (6) Jul 01 (11) Jun 30 (7) Jun 29 (4) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (5) Jun 25 (11) Jun 24 (9) Jun 23 (10) Jun 22 (8) Jun 21 (8) Jun 20 (6) Jun 19 (5) Jun 18 (15) Jun 17 (8) Jun 16 (13) Jun 15 (15) Jun 14 (11) Jun 13 (6) Jun 12 (15) Jun 11 (7) Jun 10 (7) Jun 09 (18) Jun 08 (20) Jun 07 (17) Jun 06 (9) Jun 05 (9) Jun 04 (12) Jun 03 (13) Jun 02 (14) Jun 01 (8) May 31 (13) May 30 (8) May 29 (6) May 28 (8) May 27 (17) May 26 (8) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (9) May 22 (4) May 21 (4) May 20 (11) May 19 (14) May 18 (6) May 17 (10) May 16 (4) May 15 (5) May 14 (28) May 12 (9) May 11 (17) May 10 (15) May 09 (12) May 08 (5) May 07 (4) May 06 (10) May 05 (8) May 04 (10) May 03 (5) May 02 (6) May 01 (8) Apr 30 (8) Apr 29 (12) Apr 28 (6) Apr 27 (11) Apr 26 (12) Apr 25 (6) Apr 24 (3) Apr 23 (5) Apr 22 (10) Apr 21 (19) Apr 20 (13) Apr 19 (11) Apr 18 (11) Apr 17 (5) Apr 16 (12) Apr 15 (11) Apr 14 (17) Apr 13 (6) Apr 12 (16) Apr 11 (10) Apr 10 (1) Apr 09 (18) Apr 08 (14) Apr 07 (6) Apr 06 (10) Apr 05 (21) Apr 04 (12) Apr 03 (4) Apr 02 (13) Apr 01 (8) Mar 31 (10) Mar 30 (11) Mar 29 (10) Mar 28 (8) Mar 27 (6) Mar 26 (12) Mar 25 (15) Mar 24 (10) Mar 23 (12) Mar 22 (12) Mar 21 (8) Mar 20 (4) Mar 19 (11) Mar 18 (7) Mar 17 (7) Mar 16 (9) Mar 15 (10) Mar 14 (4) Mar 13 (2) Mar 12 (14) Mar 11 (13) Mar 10 (7) Mar 09 (9) Mar 08 (17) Mar 07 (5) Mar 06 (7) Mar 05 (13) Mar 04 (10) Mar 03 (14) Mar 02 (12) Mar 01 (18) Feb 28 (8) Feb 27 (2) Feb 26 (9) Feb 25 (13) Feb 24 (17) Feb 23 (13) Feb 22 (12) Feb 21 (11) Feb 20 (11) Feb 19 (16) Feb 18 (17) Feb 17 (15) Feb 16 (15) Feb 15 (15) Feb 14 (10) Feb 13 (8) Feb 12 (10) Feb 11 (15) Feb 10 (11) Feb 09 (13) Feb 08 (10) Feb 07 (9) Feb 06 (6) Feb 05 (15) Feb 04 (15) Feb 03 (11) Feb 02 (14) Feb 01 (15) Jan 31 (11) Jan 30 (9) Jan 29 (19) Jan 28 (9) Jan 27 (9) Jan 26 (16) Jan 25 (19) Jan 24 (17) Jan 23 (8) Jan 22 (15) Jan 21 (9) Jan 20 (11) Jan 19 (7) Jan 18 (9) Jan 17 (6) Jan 16 (7) Jan 15 (12) Jan 14 (9) Jan 13 (14) Jan 12 (11) Jan 11 (13) Jan 10 (8) Jan 09 (8) Jan 08 (20) Jan 07 (11) Jan 06 (11) Jan 05 (8) Jan 04 (14) Jan 03 (6) Jan 02 (7) Jan 01 (7) Dec 31 (14) Dec 30 (15) Dec 29 (7) Dec 28 (10) Dec 27 (4) Dec 26 (3) Dec 25 (11) Dec 24 (9) Dec 23 (9) Dec 22 (15) Dec 21 (12) Dec 20 (11) Dec 19 (4) Dec 18 (16) Dec 17 (6) Dec 16 (12) Dec 15 (14) Dec 14 (11) Dec 13 (10) Dec 12 (6) Dec 11 (10) Dec 10 (17) Dec 09 (11) Dec 08 (12) Dec 07 (16) Dec 06 (11) Dec 05 (5) Dec 04 (12) Dec 03 (15) Dec 02 (15) Dec 01 (12) Nov 30 (16) Nov 29 (7) Nov 28 (11) Nov 27 (13) Nov 26 (13) Nov 25 (16) Nov 24 (15) Nov 23 (10) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (4) Nov 20 (8) Nov 19 (9) Nov 18 (16) Nov 17 (11) Nov 16 (11) Nov 15 (10) Nov 14 (9) Nov 13 (6) Nov 12 (10) Nov 11 (12) Nov 10 (15) Nov 09 (9) Nov 08 (10) Nov 07 (6) Nov 06 (7) Nov 05 (12) Nov 04 (14) Nov 03 (10) Nov 02 (13) Nov 01 (9) Oct 31 (9) Oct 30 (11) Oct 29 (18) Oct 28 (13) Oct 27 (23) Oct 26 (12) Oct 25 (14) Oct 24 (20) Oct 22 (18) Oct 21 (18) Oct 20 (19) Oct 19 (12) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (5) Oct 16 (18) Oct 15 (8) Oct 14 (11) Oct 13 (9) Oct 12 (13) Oct 11 (6) Oct 10 (7) Oct 09 (27) Oct 08 (14) Oct 07 (10) Oct 06 (9) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (10) Oct 03 (6) Oct 02 (9) Oct 01 (13) Sep 30 (12) Sep 29 (13) Sep 28 (8) Sep 27 (9) Sep 26 (8) Sep 25 (14) Sep 24 (4) Sep 23 (14) Sep 22 (20) Sep 21 (11) Sep 20 (6) Sep 19 (9) Sep 18 (14) Sep 17 (8) Sep 16 (17) Sep 15 (6) Sep 14 (11) Sep 13 (9) Sep 12 (4) Sep 11 (7) Sep 10 (14) Sep 09 (12) Sep 08 (17) Sep 07 (12) Sep 06 (13) Sep 05 (9) Sep 04 (20) Sep 03 (16) Sep 02 (16) Sep 01 (10) Aug 31 (13) Aug 30 (4) Aug 29 (9) Aug 28 (6) Aug 27 (8) Aug 26 (11) Aug 25 (10) Aug 24 (14) Aug 23 (12) Aug 22 (13) Aug 21 (10) Aug 20 (13) Aug 19 (15) Aug 18 (8) Aug 17 (10) Aug 16 (8) Aug 15 (3) Aug 14 (11) Aug 13 (12) Aug 12 (15) Aug 11 (10) Aug 10 (17) Aug 09 (6) Aug 08 (13) Aug 07 (11) Aug 06 (13) Aug 05 (11) Aug 04 (11) Aug 03 (10) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (6) Jul 31 (10) Jul 30 (21) Jul 29 (14) Jul 28 (13) Jul 27 (16) Jul 26 (10) Jul 25 (15) Jul 24 (17) Jul 23 (15) Jul 22 (15) Jul 21 (19) Jul 20 (17) Jul 19 (9) Jul 18 (7) Jul 17 (26) Jul 16 (18) Jul 15 (20) Jul 14 (16) Jul 13 (19) Jul 12 (11) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (13) Jul 09 (11) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (12) Jul 06 (16) Jul 05 (9) Jul 04 (5) Jul 03 (15) Jul 02 (11) Jul 01 (14) Jun 30 (13) Jun 29 (19) Jun 28 (8) Jun 27 (9) Jun 26 (16) Jun 25 (22) Jun 24 (17) Jun 23 (11) Jun 22 (15) Jun 21 (14) Jun 20 (8) Jun 19 (17) Jun 18 (10) Jun 17 (10) Jun 16 (17) Jun 15 (13) Jun 14 (14) Jun 13 (4) Jun 12 (13) Jun 11 (15) Jun 10 (25) Jun 09 (10) Jun 08 (23) Jun 07 (14) Jun 06 (20) Jun 05 (10) Jun 04 (11) Jun 03 (12) Jun 02 (21) Jun 01 (14) May 31 (10) May 30 (14) May 29 (8) May 28 (23) May 27 (20) May 26 (16) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (10) May 22 (18) May 21 (14) May 20 (12) May 19 (18) May 18 (14) May 17 (13) May 16 (4) May 15 (7) May 14 (16) May 13 (13) May 12 (8) May 11 (18) May 10 (8) May 09 (7) May 08 (13) May 07 (11) May 06 (15) May 05 (18) May 04 (17) May 03 (7) May 02 (5) May 01 (11) Apr 30 (19) Apr 29 (21) Apr 28 (18) Apr 27 (16) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (11) Apr 24 (9) Apr 23 (20) Apr 22 (23) Apr 21 (5) Apr 20 (16) Apr 19 (13) Apr 18 (6) Apr 17 (6) Apr 16 (16) Apr 15 (18) Apr 14 (13) Apr 13 (14) Apr 12 (9) Apr 11 (3) Apr 10 (16) Apr 09 (14) Apr 08 (12) Apr 07 (18) Apr 06 (7) Apr 05 (11) Apr 04 (9) Apr 03 (19) Apr 02 (17) Apr 01 (16) Mar 31 (16) Mar 30 (22) Mar 29 (16) Mar 28 (16) Mar 27 (19) Mar 26 (31) Mar 25 (25) Mar 24 (26) Mar 23 (27) Mar 22 (22) Mar 21 (22) Mar 20 (13) Mar 19 (21) Mar 18 (20) Mar 17 (24) Mar 16 (18) Mar 15 (9) Mar 14 (9) Mar 13 (29) Mar 12 (15) Mar 11 (11) Mar 10 (11) Mar 09 (20) Mar 08 (12) Mar 07 (6) Mar 06 (21) Mar 05 (22) Mar 04 (19) Mar 03 (9) Mar 02 (20) Mar 01 (11) Feb 28 (11) Feb 27 (27) Feb 26 (15) Feb 25 (18) Feb 24 (17) Feb 23 (19) Feb 22 (24) Feb 21 (10) Feb 20 (14) Feb 19 (25) Feb 18 (16) Feb 17 (19) Feb 16 (23) Feb 15 (8) Feb 14 (11) Feb 13 (25) Feb 12 (16) Feb 11 (12) Feb 10 (18) Feb 09 (12) Feb 08 (14) Feb 07 (8) Feb 06 (27) Feb 05 (28) Feb 04 (24) Feb 03 (17) Feb 02 (20) Feb 01 (23) Jan 31 (16) Jan 30 (20) Jan 29 (26) Jan 28 (17) Jan 27 (21) Jan 26 (24) Jan 25 (16) Jan 24 (14) Jan 23 (16) Jan 22 (17) Jan 21 (19) Jan 20 (21) Jan 19 (17) Jan 18 (13) Jan 17 (14) Jan 16 (10) Jan 15 (21) Jan 14 (16) Jan 13 (19) Jan 12 (30) Jan 11 (14) Jan 10 (11) Jan 09 (8) Jan 08 (23) Jan 07 (13) Jan 06 (21) Jan 05 (15) Jan 04 (18) Jan 03 (9) Jan 02 (12) Jan 01 (15) Dec 31 (18) Dec 30 (7) Dec 29 (13) Dec 28 (11) Dec 27 (8) Dec 26 (6) Dec 25 (8) Dec 24 (28) Dec 23 (12) Dec 22 (12) Dec 21 (17) Dec 20 (19) Dec 19 (19) Dec 18 (22) Dec 17 (24) Dec 16 (17) Dec 15 (29) Dec 14 (22) Dec 13 (12) Dec 12 (22) Dec 11 (24) Dec 10 (25) Dec 09 (18) Dec 08 (15) Dec 07 (21) Dec 06 (24) Dec 05 (30) Dec 04 (28) Dec 03 (26) Dec 02 (22) Dec 01 (33) Nov 30 (23) Nov 29 (9) Nov 28 (18) Nov 27 (25) Nov 26 (17) Nov 25 (23) Nov 24 (27) Nov 23 (12) Nov 22 (10) Nov 21 (15) Nov 20 (23) Nov 19 (23) Nov 18 (24) Nov 17 (21) Nov 16 (20) Nov 15 (13) Nov 14 (15) Nov 13 (27) Nov 12 (23) Nov 11 (19) Nov 10 (21) Nov 09 (13) Nov 08 (16) Nov 07 (16) Nov 06 (32) Nov 05 (24) Nov 04 (20) Nov 03 (29) Nov 02 (12) Nov 01 (15) Oct 31 (20) Oct 30 (22) Oct 29 (27) Oct 28 (20) Oct 27 (23) Oct 26 (21) Oct 25 (15) Oct 24 (23) Oct 23 (26) Oct 22 (27) Oct 21 (28) Oct 20 (24) Oct 19 (13) Oct 18 (9) Oct 17 (30) Oct 16 (8) Oct 15 (20) Oct 14 (14) Oct 13 (17) Oct 12 (16) Oct 11 (8) Oct 10 (19) Oct 09 (22) Oct 08 (16) Oct 07 (18) Oct 06 (23) Oct 05 (7) Oct 04 (15) Oct 03 (21) Oct 02 (17) Oct 01 (22) Sep 30 (25) Sep 29 (20) Sep 28 (17) Sep 27 (13) Sep 26 (20) Sep 25 (15) Sep 24 (24) Sep 23 (23) Sep 22 (18) Sep 21 (20) Sep 20 (11) Sep 19 (24) Sep 18 (25) Sep 17 (25) Sep 16 (19) Sep 15 (21) Sep 14 (15) Sep 13 (10) Sep 12 (23) Sep 11 (23) Sep 10 (25) Sep 09 (25) Sep 08 (17) Sep 07 (3) Sep 06 (17) Sep 05 (14) Sep 04 (24) Sep 03 (16) Sep 02 (11) Sep 01 (19) Aug 31 (20) Aug 30 (11) Aug 29 (24) Aug 28 (24) Aug 27 (16) Aug 26 (26) Aug 25 (21) Aug 24 (15) Aug 23 (19) Aug 22 (15) Aug 21 (25) Aug 20 (27) Aug 19 (19) Aug 18 (24) Aug 17 (14) Aug 16 (10) Aug 15 (15) Aug 14 (16) Aug 13 (21) Aug 12 (30) Aug 11 (19) Aug 10 (8) Aug 09 (12) Aug 08 (17) Aug 07 (21) Aug 06 (26) Aug 05 (23) Aug 04 (21) Aug 03 (12) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (19) Jul 31 (21) Jul 30 (25) Jul 29 (29) Jul 28 (23) Jul 27 (17) Jul 26 (11) Jul 25 (21) Jul 24 (14) Jul 23 (15) Jul 22 (19) Jul 21 (15) Jul 20 (9) Jul 19 (10) Jul 18 (15) Jul 17 (22) Jul 16 (18) Jul 15 (21) Jul 14 (20) Jul 13 (7) Jul 12 (9) Jul 11 (29) Jul 10 (19) Jul 09 (17) Jul 08 (26) Jul 07 (21) Jul 06 (18) Jul 05 (14) Jul 04 (20) Jul 03 (17) Jul 02 (24) Jul 01 (23) Jun 30 (23) Jun 29 (18) Jun 28 (16) Jun 27 (16) Jun 26 (17) Jun 25 (23) Jun 24 (32) Jun 23 (29) Jun 22 (8) Jun 21 (17) Jun 20 (25) Jun 19 (28) Jun 18 (19) Jun 17 (25) Jun 16 (23) Jun 15 (9) Jun 14 (11) Jun 13 (14) Jun 12 (22) Jun 11 (19) Jun 10 (17) Jun 09 (15) Jun 08 (16) Jun 07 (7) Jun 06 (29) Jun 05 (27) Jun 04 (24) Jun 03 (22) Jun 02 (22) Jun 01 (13) May 31 (9) May 30 (26) May 29 (19) May 28 (15) May 27 (15) May 26 (23) May 25 (13) May 24 (12) May 23 (24) May 22 (13) May 21 (21) May 20 (18) May 19 (16) May 18 (7) May 17 (12) May 16 (25) May 15 (24) May 14 (23) May 13 (19) May 12 (17) May 11 (8) May 10 (6) May 09 (14) May 08 (21) May 07 (26) May 06 (14) May 05 (14) May 04 (3) May 03 (3) May 02 (24) May 01 (13) Apr 30 (15) Apr 29 (24) Apr 28 (24) Apr 27 (11) Apr 26 (8) Apr 25 (13) Apr 24 (27) Apr 23 (15) Apr 22 (21) Apr 21 (19) Apr 20 (17) Apr 19 (8) Apr 18 (20) Apr 17 (27) Apr 16 (27) Apr 15 (21) Apr 14 (8) Apr 13 (8) Apr 12 (7) Apr 11 (7) Apr 10 (22) Apr 09 (15) Apr 08 (15) Apr 07 (17) Apr 06 (14) Apr 05 (5) Apr 04 (12) Apr 03 (19) Apr 02 (17) Apr 01 (19) Mar 31 (25) Mar 30 (13) Mar 29 (9) Mar 28 (16) Mar 27 (23) Mar 26 (22) Mar 25 (17) Mar 24 (25) Mar 23 (16) Mar 22 (13) Mar 21 (24) Mar 20 (27) Mar 19 (20) Mar 18 (24) Mar 17 (17) Mar 16 (11) Mar 15 (6) Mar 14 (20) Mar 13 (28) Mar 12 (30) Mar 11 (20) Mar 10 (21) Mar 09 (12) Mar 08 (8) Mar 07 (17) Mar 06 (20) Mar 05 (19) Mar 04 (15) Mar 03 (17) Mar 02 (8) Mar 01 (12) Feb 28 (16) Feb 27 (17) Feb 26 (8) Feb 25 (23) Feb 24 (15) Feb 23 (8) Feb 22 (10) Feb 21 (24) Feb 20 (14) Feb 19 (24) Feb 18 (19) Feb 17 (27) Feb 16 (13) Feb 15 (11) Feb 14 (15) Feb 13 (13) Feb 12 (13) Feb 11 (21) Feb 10 (16) Feb 09 (15) Feb 08 (10) Feb 07 (17) Feb 06 (21) Feb 05 (17) Feb 04 (14) Feb 03 (23) Feb 02 (5) Feb 01 (8) Jan 31 (17) Jan 30 (22) Jan 29 (23) Jan 28 (10) Jan 27 (24) Jan 26 (12) Jan 25 (9) Jan 24 (12) Jan 23 (19) Jan 22 (19) Jan 21 (14) Jan 20 (21) Jan 19 (12) Jan 18 (8) Jan 17 (20) Jan 16 (14) Jan 15 (23) Jan 14 (8) Jan 13 (20) Jan 12 (9) Jan 11 (7) Jan 10 (18) Jan 09 (11) Jan 08 (18) Jan 07 (13) Jan 06 (12) Jan 05 (12) Jan 04 (11) Jan 03 (10) Jan 02 (9) Jan 01 (9) Dec 31 (12) Dec 30 (11) Dec 29 (6) Dec 28 (9) Dec 27 (13) Dec 26 (15) Dec 25 (8) Dec 24 (6) Dec 23 (8) Dec 22 (5) Dec 21 (6) Dec 20 (14) Dec 19 (17) Dec 18 (14) Dec 17 (14) Dec 16 (13) Dec 15 (9) Dec 14 (9) Dec 13 (11) Dec 12 (16) Dec 11 (18) Dec 10 (4) Dec 09 (24) Dec 08 (11) Dec 07 (19) Dec 06 (6) Dec 05 (26) Dec 04 (15) Dec 03 (20) Dec 02 (17) Dec 01 (11) Nov 30 (10) Nov 29 (18) Nov 28 (21) Nov 27 (10) Nov 26 (22) Nov 25 (16) Nov 24 (12) Nov 23 (8) Nov 22 (18) Nov 21 (9) Nov 20 (17) Nov 19 (16) Nov 18 (16) Nov 17 (5) Nov 16 (9) Nov 15 (21) Nov 14 (17) Nov 13 (20) Nov 12 (16) Nov 11 (13) Nov 10 (9) Nov 09 (10) Nov 08 (16) Nov 07 (15) Nov 06 (18) Nov 05 (19) Nov 04 (16) Nov 03 (11) Nov 02 (5) Nov 01 (17) Oct 31 (17) Oct 30 (21) Oct 29 (9) Oct 28 (16) Oct 27 (6) Oct 26 (6) Oct 25 (16) Oct 24 (18) Oct 23 (14) Oct 22 (17) Oct 21 (10) Oct 20 (6) Oct 19 (8) Oct 18 (11) Oct 17 (12) Oct 16 (14) Oct 15 (19) Oct 14 (15) Oct 13 (11) Oct 12 (9) Oct 11 (10) Oct 10 (23) Oct 09 (13) Oct 08 (15) Oct 07 (20) Oct 06 (13) Oct 05 (4) Oct 04 (16) Oct 03 (17) Oct 02 (17) Oct 01 (20) Sep 30 (17) Sep 29 (9) Sep 28 (8) Sep 27 (14) Sep 26 (20) Sep 25 (19) Sep 24 (13) Sep 23 (11) Sep 22 (9) Sep 21 (5) Sep 20 (8) Sep 19 (21) Sep 18 (12) Sep 17 (20) Sep 16 (16) Sep 15 (10) Sep 14 (6) Sep 13 (18) Sep 12 (14) Sep 11 (24) Sep 10 (17) Sep 09 (16) Sep 08 (16) Sep 07 (10) Sep 06 (20) Sep 05 (13) Sep 04 (23) Sep 03 (14) Sep 02 (12) Sep 01 (11) Aug 31 (11) Aug 30 (13) Aug 29 (18) Aug 28 (14) Aug 27 (21) Aug 26 (10) Aug 25 (8) Aug 24 (10) Aug 23 (17) Aug 22 (15) Aug 21 (14) Aug 20 (20) Aug 19 (20) Aug 18 (7) Aug 17 (9) Aug 16 (11) Aug 15 (12) Aug 14 (14) Aug 13 (19) Aug 12 (14) Aug 11 (6) Aug 10 (12) Aug 09 (7) Aug 08 (18) Aug 07 (16) Aug 06 (16) Aug 05 (20) Aug 04 (12) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (12) Aug 01 (14) Jul 31 (16) Jul 30 (16) Jul 29 (11) Jul 28 (8) Jul 27 (9) Jul 26 (17) Jul 25 (20) Jul 24 (17) Jul 23 (11) Jul 22 (18) Jul 21 (7) Jul 20 (10) Jul 19 (14) Jul 18 (11) Jul 17 (15) Jul 16 (12) Jul 15 (10) Jul 14 (8) Jul 13 (8) Jul 12 (17) Jul 11 (18) Jul 10 (16) Jul 09 (13) Jul 08 (10) Jul 07 (12) Jul 06 (8) Jul 05 (16) Jul 04 (14) Jul 03 (17) Jul 02 (13) Jul 01 (16) Jun 30 (19) Jun 29 (7) Jun 28 (19) Jun 27 (21) Jun 26 (27) Jun 25 (23) Jun 24 (23) Jun 23 (12) Jun 22 (9) Jun 21 (18) Jun 20 (15) Jun 19 (24) Jun 18 (21) Jun 17 (13) Jun 16 (9) Jun 15 (9) Jun 14 (18) Jun 13 (24) Jun 12 (18) Jun 11 (23) Jun 10 (25) Jun 09 (24) Jun 08 (27) Jun 07 (5) Jun 06 (25) Jun 05 (30) Jun 04 (23) Jun 03 (22) Jun 02 (16) Jun 01 (17) May 31 (18) May 30 (19) May 29 (17) May 28 (23) May 27 (15) May 26 (10) May 25 (19) May 24 (16) May 23 (16) May 22 (27) May 21 (20) May 20 (26) May 19 (6) May 18 (8) May 17 (20) May 16 (8) May 15 (18) May 14 (5) May 13 (21) May 12 (9) May 11 (8) May 10 (12) May 09 (18) May 08 (11) May 07 (27) May 06 (12) May 05 (16) May 04 (19) May 03 (14) May 02 (18) May 01 (18) Apr 30 (25) Apr 29 (27) Apr 28 (11) Apr 27 (10) Apr 26 (18) Apr 25 (10) Apr 24 (29) Apr 23 (29) Apr 22 (14) Apr 21 (15) Apr 20 (20) Apr 19 (22) Apr 18 (16) Apr 17 (32) Apr 16 (12) Apr 15 (21) Apr 14 (21) Apr 13 (15) Apr 12 (13) Apr 11 (14) Apr 10 (16) Apr 09 (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)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 5)  Detained former Senator Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr. will seek a Senate seat in the 2019 midterm elections.

Former solon Martin Romualdez, president of Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD)  the political party of Revilla  confirmed the news on Friday.

"I am pleased and honored to officially announce the candidacy for the Senate of Sen. Bong Revilla Jr., our party chairman. This decision was reached after a series of consultations with his family, close friends, constituents and political leaders," Romualdez said in a statement.

Revilla, also a former actor, has been detained at the Philippine National Police Custodial Center in Camp Crame since 2014.

Revilla is one of at least three senators who allegedly helped businesswoman Janet Napoles in funneling P10 billion in lawmakers' funds to bogus non-government organizations.
World  Apricots  Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights

IndexBox, Inc. has just published a new report World  Apricots  Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights. Here is a summary of the reports key findings.

Apricot Imports

In 2017, the amount of apricots imported worldwide reached 325K tonnes, ascending by 10% against the previous year level. The total import volume increased at an average annual rate of +4.8% over the period from 2007 to 2017; however, the trend pattern indicated some noticeable fluctuations over the period under review. The growth pace was the most rapid in 2012 when it surged by 19% against the previous year level. Global import peaked in 2017, and are likely to see steady growth in the immediate term.

In value terms, apricot imports stood at $443M in 2017. The total import value increased at an average annual rate of +2.7% over the period from 2007 to 2017; however, the trend pattern indicated some noticeable fluctuations in certain years. Over the period under review, apricot imports reached its maximum level of $538M in 2013; however, from 2014 to 2017, it failed to regain its strength.

Apricot Imports By Country

Germany (70K tonnes), and Russia (52K tonnes) represented the major importers of apricots in 2017, finishing at approx. 22%, and 16% of total imports, respectively. Italy (22K tonnes) took the second position in the ranking, followed by France (21K tonnes), Austria (16K tonnes), and Kazakhstan (15K tonnes). All these countries together occupied near 23% share of total imports. The UK (12K tonnes), Switzerland (12K tonnes), Saudi Arabia (9.2K tonnes), Belgium (8.5K tonnes), Pakistan (7.8K tonnes), and the Czech Republic (6.6K tonnes) held the slight share of total imports.

From 2007 to 2017, the most notable growth rate of imports, among the main importing countries, was attained by Saudi Arabia (+12.4% per year), while the other global leaders experienced more modest paces of growth.

In value terms, Germany ($109M) constitutes the largest market for imported apricots worldwide, making up 25% of global imports. The second position in the ranking was occupied by Russia ($45M), with the share of 10% of global imports. It was followed by France, with the share of 7%.

In Germany, apricot imports expanded at an average annual rate of +3.2% over the period from 2007-2017. The remaining importing countries recorded the following average annual rates: Russia (+2.7% per year) and France (+6.3% per year).

Apricot Import Prices By Country

The average apricot import price stood at $1,363 per tonne in 2017, reducing by -5.5% against the previous year. In general, apricot import price continues to indicate a moderate downturn. The pace of growth appeared the most rapid in 2010 when import increased by 18% from the previous year level. Global import price peaked of $1,760 per tonne in 2008; however, from 2009 to 2017, it failed to regain its strength.

There were significant differences in the average import prices among major importing countries. In 2017, the country with the highest import price was Switzerland ($2,049 per tonne), while Russia ($866 per tonne) was among the lowest.

From 2007 to 2017, the most notable growth rate of import prices was attained by Pakistan (+25.7% per year), while the other global leaders experienced more modest paces of growth.

Description

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the global apricot market. Within it, you will discover the latest data on market trends and opportunities by country, consumption, production and price developments, as well as the global trade (imports and exports). The forecast exhibits the market prospects through 2025.

Countries coverage: Worldwide  the report contains statistical data for 200 countries and includes detailed profiles of the 50 largest consuming countries (United States, China, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Brazil, Italy, Russian Federation, India, Canada, Australia, Republic of Korea, Spain, Mexico, Indonesia, Netherlands, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Sweden, Nigeria, Poland, Belgium, Argentina, Norway, Austria, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Colombia, Denmark, South Africa, Malaysia, Israel, Singapore, Egypt, Philippines, Finland, Chile, Ireland, Pakistan, Greece, Portugal, Kazakhstan, Algeria, Czech Republic, Qatar, Peru, Romania, Vietnam) + the largest producing countries.

Browse Related Reports

World  Apricots (Dry)  Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights

World  Fruits  Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights

U.S.: Apricots  Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights

Download a free sample of the report now!

https://www.indexbox.io/store/world-apricot-market-report-analysis-and-forecast-to-2020

Media Contact

Company Name: IndexBox, Inc.

Contact Person: Narmin Baazova

Email: Send Email

Phone: +1-415-799-8701

Country: United States

Website: https://www.indexbox.io
World  Avocados  Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights

IndexBox, Inc. has just published a new report World  Avocados  Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends, and Insights. Here is a summary of the reports key findings.

Avocado Imports

In 2017, approx. 2.1M tonnes of avocados were imported worldwide; going up by 12% against the previous year figure. Overall, avocado imports continue to indicate a remarkable expansion. The most prominent rate of growth was recorded in 2014, an increase of 21% year-to-year. Global import peaked in 2017, and are expected to retain its growth in the near future.

In value terms, avocado imports totaled $6B in 2017. In general, avocado imports continue to indicate a prominent expansion. Over the period under review, avocado imports attained its maximum level in 2017, and are likely to see steady growth in the immediate term.

Avocado Imports By Country

The U.S. (928K tonnes) was the major importing country with an import of around 928K tonnes, which finished at 43% of total imports. It was distantly followed by the Netherlands (207K tonnes), France (146K tonnes), Canada (123K tonnes), the UK (105K tonnes), and Spain (98K tonnes), together creating 32% share of total imports. Germany (71K tonnes), Japan (61K tonnes), and China (32K tonnes) followed a long way behind the leaders.

Imports into the U.S. increased at an average annual rate of +10.3% from 2007 to 2017. At the same time, China (+24.1%), Canada (+18.1%), the Netherlands (+15.2%), Spain (+14.8%), Germany (+13.1%), the UK (+8.8%), Japan (+8.6%), and France (+2.8%) displayed positive paces of growth. Moreover, China emerged as the fastest growing importer in the world, with a CAGR of +24.1% from 2007-2017. From 2007 to 2017, the share of Japan, France, Germany, the UK, Spain, Canada, the Netherlands, and the U.S. decreased by -1.6%, -1.6%, -2.3%, -2.8%, -3.4%, -4.7%, -7.3%, and -27.1% percentage points, while the shares of the other countries remained relatively stable throughout the analyzed period.

In value terms, the U.S. ($2.7B) constitutes the largest market for imported avocados worldwide, making up 45% of global imports. The second position in the ranking was occupied by the Netherlands ($553M), with the share of 9% of global imports. It was followed by France, with the share of 7%.

In the U.S., avocado imports expanded at an average annual rate of +16.1% over the period from 2007-2017. In the other countries, the average annual rates were as follows: the Netherlands (+19.2% per year) and France (+8.2% per year).

Avocado Import Prices By Country

In 2017, the average import price for avocados amounted to $2,810 per tonne, jumping by 13% against the previous year. Over the period from 2007 to 2017 it increased at an average annual rate of +4.6%. The pace of growth was the most pronounced in 2011 when import increased by 22% y-o-y. Over the period under review, average import price for avocado attained its maximum level in 2017, and is likely to see steady growth in the immediate term.

Import prices varied noticeably by country of destination; the country with the highest import price was Germany ($3,805 per tonne), while China ($904 per tonne) was among the lowest.

From 2007 to 2017, the most notable growth rate of import prices was attained by Germany (+6.5% per year), while the other global leaders experienced more modest paces of growth.

Description

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the global avocado market. Within it, you will discover the latest data on market trends and opportunities by country, consumption, production and price developments, as well as the global trade (imports and exports). The forecast exhibits the market prospects through 2025. Countries coverage: Worldwide  the report contains statistical data for 200 countries and includes detailed profiles of the 50 largest consuming countries (United States, China, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Brazil, Italy, Russian Federation, India, Canada, Australia, Republic of Korea, Spain, Mexico, Indonesia, Netherlands, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Sweden, Nigeria, Poland, Belgium, Argentina, Norway, Austria, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Colombia, Denmark, South Africa, Malaysia, Israel, Singapore, Egypt, Philippines, Finland, Chile, Ireland, Pakistan, Greece, Portugal, Kazakhstan, Algeria, Czech Republic, Qatar, Peru, Romania, Vietnam) + the largest producing countries.

Browse Related Reports

U.S. Organic Avocado Market. Analysis and Forecast To 2025

U.S.: Avocados  Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights

World  Fruits, Nuts And Peel (Sugar Preserved)  Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights

Download a free sample of the report now!

https://www.indexbox.io/store/world-avocados-market-report-analysis-and-forecast-to-2020/

Media Contact

Company Name: IndexBox, Inc.

Contact Person: Narmin Baazova

Email: Send Email

Phone: +1-415-799-8701

Country: United States

Website: https://www.indexbox.io
Australian Potash Limited (ASX:APC) will benefit from $35M committed Federal and State funding for the upgrade of a 100-kilometre section of the Great Central Road between Lake Wells and Laverton



Logistics Upgrade

Perth, Oct 5, 2018 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Australian Potash Limited ( ASX:APC ) (Company) is pleased to advise the Shire of Laverton has received committed funding to bitumen-seal an additional 100kms of the Great Central Road to the east of Laverton, commencing in January 2019.Highlights:- The Shire of Laverton will bitumen-seal up to 100kms of the Great Central Road (GCR) commencing January 2019- This road-surfacing project will replace 70kms of un-sealed road with high-grade sealed road in APC's logistics solution (see Figure 2 in link below)- APC's logistics consultants are refining OPEX models based upon this latest material development- APC and the Shire of Laverton have entered into an Agreement to offset rates due on the recently granted Mining Leases at Lake Wells to the upgrade and maintenance of the Lake Wells access road- APC and the Shire of Laverton have agreed to scope the feasibility of sealing the Lake Wells access road which would make the Lake Wells SOP Project's logistics solution a 300km all-weather bitumen sealed road to the Leonora rail-headManaging Director Matt Shackleton commented: "Logistics is one of the most important areas of cost to control in a bulk project, and one of the natural features of the Lake Wells SOP Project that first attracted our interest was its strategically superior logistical position, in respect to the short haulage distance to the Leonora rail terminals. The rail from Leonora goes to Fremantle, Kwinana, Esperance and the east coast - that is, once our SOP is on the rail, we can send it anywhere at a cheaper cost than if we were reliant on 100% road haulage."Our logistics consultants are working with the APC project team to understand the full, positive impact having access to an additional 70 kilometres of sealed road has on their previous estimates of freight."We are also delighted with the strong support shown by the Shire of Laverton in assisting the Company with its development plans. The Laverton Shire's councilors and executive have a clear focus on assisting the development of the region's massive mineral endowment."We are working with the Shire to understand the feasibility of a mid-term road sealing project on the Lake Wells Road. Not only does road-haulage on bitumen as opposed to unsealed surfaces indicate an optimised freight solution, but with a 100% sealed road to Lake Wells we could realistically use Laverton as the hub for our operation, avoiding the capital cost of many site-based services."To view figures, please visit:About Australian Potash Ltd

Australian Potash Limited (ASX:APC) is an ASX-listed Sulphate of Potash (SOP) developer. The Company holds a 100% interest in the Lake Wells Potash Project located approximately 500kms northeast of Kalgoorlie, in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields.

Following the release of a Scoping Study in 2017, APC has been conducting a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) into the development of the Lake Wells Potash Project. The Company is aiming to release the findings of the DFS in H2 2019.

The Lake Wells Potash Project is a palaeochannel brine hosted sulphate of potash project. Palaeochannel bore fields supply large volumes of brine to many existing mining operations throughout Western Australia, and this technique is a well understood and proven method for extracting brine. APC will use this technically low-risk and commonly used brine extraction model to further develop a bore-field into the palaeochannel hosting the Lake Wells SOP resource.

A Scoping Study on the Lake Wells Potash Project was completed and released on 23 March 2017. The Scoping Study exceeded expectations and confirmed that the Project's economic and technical aspects are all exceptionally strong, and highlights APC's potential to become a significant long-life, low capital and high margin sulphate of potash (SOP) producer.


Successful Infill and Extension Drilling at Auer, Auer North

Sydney, Oct 5, 2018 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Hastings Technology Metals Limited ( ASX:HAS ) is pleased to announce that its 2018 drilling programme at the Yangibana Rare Earths Project has been completed. The infill and extension drilling at the Auer and Auer North deposits (see Figure 1 in link below) has provided positive results and the Company will release new JORC Resources in the coming weeks.HIGHLIGHTSInfill and extension drilling completed at Auer and Auer North- Drilling extends Auer to the south by a further 300m- Drilling confirms high quality extension of Auer to the northeast- Auer now established over 2.35km of strike, open in both directions and open at depth along the majority of this strikelength- Assay results indicate strong potential for additional resources- Best results from Auer:-13m at 1.60%TREO including 0.49%Nd2O3+Pr6O1114m at 1.59%TREO including 0.49%Nd2O3+Pr6O1116m at 1.20%TREO including 0.43%Nd2O3+Pr6O1117m at 1.01%TREO including 0.38%Nd2O3+Pr6O117m at 2.57%TREO including 0.85%Nd2O3+Pr6O118m at 1.98%TREO including 0.60%Nd2O3+Pr6O1111.82m at 1.47%TREO including 0.53%Nd2O3+Pr6O11- Best results from Auer North :-10m at 1.87%TREO including 0.60%Nd2O3+Pr6O118m at 1.50%TREO including 0.49%Nd2O3+Pr6O118m at 1.32%TREO including 0.46%Nd2O3+Pr6O1113m at 1.08%TREO including 0.37%Nd2O3+Pr6O11DRILLING RESULTSAssay results have been received from all drilling at Auer and Auer North deposits (see Figures 2 and 3 in link below), with best intersections shown in Table 1(see link below). Details of hole coordinates and assays are shown in Appendices 1 and 2(see link below).Note that the mineralisation at Auer and Auer North is generally steep (70deg-80deg) and the intersected lengths are as much as double the true width.The important Nd2O3+Pr6O11:TREO ratio range mostly from 30-38%, in line with the November 2017 JORC Resource average of 35%. This ratio effects the proportion of the Company's target oxides of neodymium and praseodymium to TREO in the planned mixed rare earths carbonate product.Figure 2 (see link below) shows the drilling carried out to the south of Auer Zone 1. This drilling successfully tested an aeromagnetic anomaly defined in the Company's 2016 aeromagnetic and radiometric survey. The drilling has extended the mineralisation for a further 300m to the south and the deposit remains open to the south and at depth.Figure 2 (see link below) also shows drilling carried out between Auer Zones 1 and 2. Earlier drilling had indicated that this area was not mineralised but results from the recent drilling provide some encouraging results.As can be seen in Table 1(see link below), Auer Zone 4 has provided particularly encouraging results this year with wide intersections of mineralisation encountered from an area with limited outcrop of ironstone. The zone remains open to the northeast and at depth.TERMINOLOGY USED IN THIS REPORTTotal Rare Earths Oxides, TREO, is the sum of the oxides of the light rare earth elements lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), and samarium (Sm) and the heavy rare earth elements europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), lutetium (Lu), and yttrium (Y).To view tables and figures, please visit: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.
REDDING, Calif. - Several individuals have been honored for their contributions to the Native American community at the annual Elders Dinner in Redding.

More than 100 people gathered at the Win-River Casino on Oct. 4 for the gathering.

Redding Rancheria Chairman Jack Potter Jr. said that the event stems from a long tradition of honoring the wisdom and traditions that elders pass on to younger generations.

"The people that we're honoring have changed laws for Indian country," Potter said. "They have advanced us, and so we like to acknowledge that and honor them because we are nothing without our elders. They have been through so many things that we have not, so as Indian country we always honor them and acknowledge them for their contributions."

This year's honorees included Pat Begley, Michael Swan and Debbie Gard of the Wintu tribe and Barbara Lucero and Caleen Sisk of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe.
UPDATE 4:58 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 - California Department of Fish and Wildlife has released new numbers regarding the drug bust off of Underwood Mountain Road in Trinity County.

During the raid, 11 arrests were made. The department also found seven guns including two assault rifles and two bullet-proof vests.

In regards to marijuana, they found 2,525 growing marijuana plants, 400 pounds of processed marijuana bud, 3,500 pounds of processed hanging marijuana.

They also found three restricted pesticides and some dead squirrels around the area.

---

TRINITY COUNTY, Calif. - Trinity County Environmental Health removed US-banned pesticides during a search on Oct. 2 that were being used in the cultivation of marijuana.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife and Trinity County Environmental Health are warning the public that there has been a potential spill into a tributary of Mill Creek, which is a tributary to the Trinity River. The spill is suspected of being Carbofuran, Methamidophos and Avermectin B1 pesticides.

The pesticides were found in a private area located off of Underwood Mountain Road in the Burnt Ranch area.

Among the substances found are organophosphates, which are harmful pesticides to the public and environment. Additionally, all of the pesticides have been found to cause reproductive harm.

Trinity County Environmental Health advises anyone to seek medical attention if they have the following symptoms:
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has issued Lloyds with legal directions after it failed to send annual payment protection insurance (PPI) reviews and provided incorrect PPI data to its customers. It is now requiring Lloyds to put effective systems and procedures in place to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future. This is not the first time Lloyds has breached the CMAs PPI order, having reported 6 breaches in 2016 for failing to provide customers with correct data and annual reminders. The CMAs action comes after an investigation into PPI by the Competition Commission, concluding in 2011. One of the measures introduced was for customers to receive an annual review once a year from their provider, setting out clearly how much they had paid in and their right to cancel the policy. The CMA decided to act against Lloyds after IT problems meant approximately 14,000 of its customers did not receive this reminder between 2012 and 2018. Lloyds also provided incorrect information on PPI premiums in annual reviews it sent to 2,884 customers. Adam Land, the CMAs Senior Director of Remedies, Business and Financial Analysis, said: We are disappointed that Lloyds has again failed to provide these important reminders or provide accurate data to its customers. These are serious breaches and, as we did with Barclays in August, we are issuing Lloyds with legal directions which can be enforced by a Court to ensure they comply. Following a series of breaches, were now requiring legal assurances from Lloyds that they have measures in place to prevent similar breaches from ever happening again. The annual PPI review is an important measure so customers know they still have a policy and how much it is costing them each year, as well as their right to cancel or switch. Lloyds has started sending its apology letters to affected customers and has provided a reminder of their right to cancel the policy and an offer to refund premiums.
Other signatories include: Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director, Age UK

Baroness Ros Altmann, Chair, pensionsync

David Dalton-Brown, Director General, Tax Incentivised Savings Association (TISA)

Anne Fairpo, Chair, Low Incomes Tax Reform Group of the Chartered Institute of Taxation

Helen Hargreaves, Associate Director of Policy, Chartered Institute of Payroll Professionals (CIPP)

Paul Nowak, Deputy General Secretary, Trades Union Congress (TUC)

Nigel Peaple, Director of Policy and Research, Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA)

Henry Tapper, First Actuarial and Pension PlayPen

Steve Webb, Director of Policy, Royal London Troy Clutterbuck, CEO of NOW: Pensions said: Through no fault of their own, lower paid workers in net pay schemes are missing out on the tax relief they would receive if they were in a relief at source scheme. Figures from HMRC suggest that this could be affecting more than a million people, the majority of whom are women, and this number is only going to grow. We are pushing for action on this now as we know that HMRC are looking at solutions to solve an issue that has arisen in relief at source schemes as a result of devolved taxation. We firmly believe that the government should make sure that any system changes they make also put things right for these workers.


&Rosas,3,#ANightForChange,2,#everybitofChristmas,1,#FightFakeNews,1,#giftofahello,1,#GRILLTHEWORST,1,#heathrowbears,1,#JuntosSomos10,1,#KIDSREVENGE,1,#lookingforaheartbeat,1,#MajorTaylor,1,#malariamustdie,1,#MediaSnack,1,#mmmmSorry,1,#PassTheHappiness,1,#reallyuglysweater,1,#SaveBCBears,1,#ShavetoRemember,1,#Shootforgreatness,1,#SistersInSweat,1,#StationWithAView,1,#WomenForTheWin,2,#Wooden2CV,1,#XmasCollection,1,118 118,1,14 Hands,1,140BBDO,1,1620 Winery,1,18 Feet & Rising,1,180 Kingsday,2,1st Bank,1,1stAveMachine,8,2008 Olympic Games,19,2010 SuperBowl Ads,15,2011 Asian Cup,1,2011 Super Bowl Ad,17,2011 Super Bowl Line Up,2,2011 SuperBowl Ads,1,2012 Olympics,30,2012 super bowl,3,2012 the movie,3,2017 New York Festivals Young Global Awards,1,2017 Next Creative Leaders,1,2018 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship,1,2018 Grammy Awards,1,2018 New York Festivals Global Awards,1,2018 New York Festivals International Advertising Awards,3,2018 Winter Olympics,7,2050,1,20ten,1,23ANDME,1,23red,2,3% Movement,6,3AM,1,3D animation,7,3D TV,2,3Headed Monster,1,3M,2,4As,1,50 Cent,1,5D,1,62ABOVE,2,72nd and Sunny,3,80s,1,84.Paris,4,A Colourful Life,1,A Magic Thank You,1,A Night For Change,1,A Plus Creative,1,A&W,1,A1 Hrvatska,1,A9,1,Aamir Khan,1,Aardman,5,Aaron Rodgers,2,Abbe Pierre Foundation,1,About You,1,Above + Beyond,7,Absolut,7,absolut vodka,19,ACADOMIA,1,Accenture Interactive,1,Acne,1,Acura,2,Acura NSX,1,Ad Age,1,AD Art Show,1,Ad Council,7,ad industry,127,Ad School Work,1,Adam Devine,1,adam&eveDDB,14,adam&eveNYC,3,ADC Awards,1,Adidas,55,Adobe,2,AdoptUsKids,1,ads from india,2,Adstasher,2,advertising,17,Advertising & Design Club of Canada,3,advertising art,5,advertising people,18,Advertising Standards Authority,1,Adwoa Aboah,1,against dumb,1,AGAMA Digital Group,1,Agency Animals,1,Agency of the Year,1,Agency Squid,2,Agustina Lavignase,1,Ah Ma's Christmas,1,AICP,1,Aimaq von Lobenstein/Saint Elmo's,1,Air Canada,3,Air France,1,AirPods,1,Airstream,1,Akestam Holst,1,Akestam Holst,1,AKQA,1,Al Umobuwah,1,Alamo Drafthouse,1,Albert Einstein,2,alcohol ad,99,Aldi UK,2,ALDO,2,Aldo Crusher,1,Alejandro Amenabar,1,Alessandro Pacciani,2,Alex Grossman,1,alexander Keiths,1,alice,1,Alice in Wonderland,1,Alicia Vikander,1,Alkemy X,1,All Mighty Pictures,1,Allianz,2,Allied Irish Bank (AIB),3,AllState Insurance,8,AllTogetherNow,1,Alpha Century,1,Amazon,8,Amazon Alexa,2,Amazon Music,1,Amazon Prime Video,1,Amazon Rainforest Conservancy,1,Ambient Ads,16,AME Awards,2,America,1,American Advertising Awards,1,American Airlines,4,American Association of Advertising Agencies,1,American Express,4,American Gem Trade Association,1,American Marketing Association,1,American Signature,1,Amstel,1,AMV BBDO,4,ANA (Association of National Advertisers),2,Analysis of an AD,3,AncestryDNA,1,Anderlecht,1,Anderson .Paak,1,Andrea Baridon,4,Andrea Bocelli,1,Andrea Pirlo,1,Andres Iniesta,1,Andrew Archer,1,andriod,6,Andzej Gavriss,1,Angry Birds,1,Anheuser-Busch,3,Ani Acopian,1,animation,37,Anne Leibovitz,1,Anne-Marie,1,Annie's,1,ANOMALY,4,Ant Brew,1,Ant-Man and The Wasp,1,Anthony Joshua,2,anti-drinking and driving,1,anti-smoking,1,Antidote,2,Antique Rivet,1,Antoni,1,Anxiety and Depression Association of America,1,Anyfin,1,AOR KBS,1,Aperol Spritz,1,app,15,Apple,144,Apple Music,1,Apple Open,1,Apple Pay,3,Apple Pencil,1,Apple Watch Series 3,2,apps,48,April Fool's,4,Arbella,2,Arcana Academy,3,Area,1,Areva,1,AreWeNext,1,Argentina,5,Argentina ad,1,ARGONAUT,3,Arian Foster,1,Armoury,1,Arnold Schwarzenegger,1,art & design,26,Art and Design,414,article,94,Arts & Sciences,1,Ascensia Diabetes Care Canada,1,ASHLEY MADISON,2,Asian Food Network,1,ASICS,4,Assassins Creed Origins,2,Association of Registered Graphic Designers (RGD),1,Assured Guaranty,1,Aston Martin,1,at and t,9,AT&T,1,Ataboy Studios,1,Athena Awards,1,athlete,1,athlete endorsement,2,Athletics NYC,1,Attack Ads,1,ATTIK,1,Audi,6,audi ads,60,Audi G-Tron,1,Audible,1,Audie Awards,1,Audio Threadz,1,Audubon,1,Aurora Straus,1,Australia Post,1,Australian Ads,57,Autism Speaks,1,automotive,363,Aviation Gin,1,Avis,1,AvL/SE,1,Award Winners,17,awards,8,Aware Honour,1,Axa Insurance,1,Axe 2012,1,Axe Bullet,9,Axe Commercials,41,Axe Day Axe Night,1,Axe Effect,13,Axe Googly,1,axe impact,1,Axe Print ad,1,Axe Promo,2,Ayron Jones,1,B-Reel,1,babies,5,Babyshop,2,Bacardi,3,Backstreet Boys,1,Bad AD Placement,4,Balls to Cancer,1,Band Networks,1,Banjoman Films,1,Bank Like a Big Wig,1,Bank's Beer,1,Banned Ads,13,banner ads,1,Barack Obama Ads,2,Barbarian,1,Barclaycard,1,Barilla,3,Barkley,9,Barnes & Noble,1,Barney Cokeliss,1,barrettSF,11,Barry Louis Polisar,1,Barton F Graf,1,Bat for Lashes,1,Batelco,1,Battery,3,Battle of the Sexes,1,Bavaria Beer,6,Baz Luhrmann,1,bbc,4,BBC Sport,3,BBD Perfect Storm,2,BBDO,11,BBH,5,BBH Shanghai,1,BC Children's Hospital,2,BCAA,1,Be More Pirate,1,Beaphar,1,Bear Paws,1,beauty products,4,Beck's,1,beer ads,179,Behind the Mac,1,Behind The Scenes,3,beIN Sports,1,Belgian National Lottery,1,Belgium,3,Bell,1,Bell Media,1,BelonG To Youth Services,1,Ben Sharpe,1,Ben Simmons,1,Ben Telco,1,Bensimon-Byrne,3,Bentley,1,Bentley Continental,1,Berkeley,1,Berlin Cameron,1,Bernardo Chua,1,Bertolli,1,Best,1,Best Brands,1,Best Brands Italia,1,Best Buy,4,BetaRok 75,1,BETC,22,BETC Luxe,3,BETC Paris,20,Betfair,1,Beth Grace,1,Better Half,1,BetterHelp,1,Betty White,1,BGCC,1,Bibite Sanpellegrino,1,Bibli,1,Biborg,1,BiC,1,Bicoastal Arcade,2,Big Al's Creative Emporium,1,Big Bouy,1,Big O Tires,1,Bill Gates,3,Bill Hader,1,billboards,29,Billy Read,1,Bindery,3,bing,3,Birch Benders,1,Birdy,1,Bisto,1,BK Angry Whopper,2,BK Texican,1,BK Whopper Sacrifice,1,Black & Cameron,1,Black Lives Matter,1,Black Spot,6,Blackberry,25,blandwiches,1,Blind Barber,1,Blink Art,3,Blink Productions,3,Blinkink,9,Blk Ops,1,Block & Tackle,1,Blockbuster,1,Blonde Ads,1,Blue Cross,1,Blue Shield,2,Bluewater,1,BMB,3,BMO,1,BMW,10,BMW Ads,29,BMW Motorrad,1,BMW X2,1,Bobby Byrne,1,Bolder Creative,1,Bollywood,1,Bolthouse Farms,1,Bombas,1,BON & VIV Spiked Seltzer,1,Bond's,2,Bonterra,1,Booking.com,1,books,2,BoomTV,1,BooneOakley,2,Boost Mobile,1,Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park,1,Bose,1,Boston Bruins,2,Boston Pizza,3,Boursoma Banque,1,Bouygues Telecom,5,Bowers & Wilkins,1,Boxes,1,Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago,1,BP Ultimate,1,Brad Paisley,1,BRAND MARKETING,4,Branded by Geronimo,1,Brandimage,1,Branding,11,Brandon Olsen,1,Brantano,1,Brave Spark,1,Brazil Ad,15,Brazilian Creative Club,1,Brazilian Press,1,BREAST CANCER AWARENESS,5,Breast Cancer Now,1,Brent Harris,1,Brett Burns,1,Brett Favre,3,BrewDog,1,Bridgestone,1,BrillAAnce Awards,1,Bring Change to Mind,1,Brita,1,British Airways,5,Broken Heart Love Affair,1,Brothers and Sisters,2,Brown Thomas,1,Bruce Hall,1,Bruce Willis,1,Bruketa&Zinic&Grey,1,Brunner,3,Brussels,1,Bryce Harper,1,BSSP,10,BSUR,4,Bubble Gum,1,bubly,1,Bud Knight,1,bud light,7,BUDWEISER ADS,25,Bug Light,1,Builders Club,3,Bulk Powders,1,Bullitt,1,Bundesliga,1,Burberry,1,Burcu & Geoffrey,1,Burger King,32,bus ads,11,Bus Shelter Ad,7,Bushwick Film Festival,1,Buster + Punch,1,Butler Shine Stern & Partners,1,butlins holidays,1,Butterfly Coach,1,Buzzman,12,bwin,1,Bye Bye Bicycle,1,C14 Paris,1,Cacharel Fragrances,1,Cactus,1,CADBURY,12,cadillac,6,Calabash,4,Calcium,1,California Department of Health,1,Call My Name,1,Call of Duty,2,Call of Duty: WWII,1,Callaway Golf,1,Calling all Creators,1,Calvin Klein,5,Camden Town Brewery,2,Camp + King,2,Camp Jefferson,1,Camp4 Collective,1,Campaign to End Loneliness,1,Canada,278,Canadian Down Syndrome Society,1,Canadian Marketing Association,1,Canadian Marketing Association (CMA),2,Canadian Public Relations Society,1,CANAL TV,3,CANAL+,2,Cancer@Work,1,Candice Swanepoel,1,Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards,1,Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity,9,Canon,1,Capcom,1,Captain Morgan,3,Captain Tom Foundation,1,Captains of Industry,1,car ad,9,car advertising,366,car stunt,2,Cara Delevingne,2,Cardi B,1,CarGurus,1,Carhartt,1,Caribou Coffee,1,Carletti,1,Carli Lloyd,1,Carlsberg,2,CarMax,2,Carrefour,3,Cartier,1,Case for Change,1,Casey House,1,Casja Wessberg,1,Castle Lite,1,Castrol Oil,1,cats,6,Caviar,1,Cayenne Milano,1,CCM,1,celebrity commercials,409,Cell C,1,Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH),2,Cerberus,2,Cerebros,1,Certified Management Accountants (CMA),3,Cerveceria Nacional,1,Champions for Change,1,CHANCE,1,Chance the Rapper,2,change for a dollar,1,Channel 4,1,Chapeau Studios,1,Charger,1,Charles Barkley,2,Charlie the Tuna,1,Chartered Professional Accountants,2,Chaumet,1,Cheetos,2,Cheetos Restaurant,1,Cheil,2,Cheil Brazil,1,Cheil Hong Kong,1,Cheil India,1,Cheil London,1,Cheil Romania,1,Cheil Spain,2,Cheil Worldwide Seoul,3,Chelsea FC,1,Chemistry,1,Chester Cheetah,1,Chevrolet,1,Chevy,19,Chevy Camaro,1,Chicago,1,Chicago Advertising Federation (CAF),1,Chicago Bears,1,Chick-fil-A,1,Chicken Legend,1,Chime,1,Chimney,1,China Ads,1,China Global Television Network (CGTN),1,Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice,1,Chinese New Year,1,Chloe Claverie,1,chocolate bar ad,1,Chris Brown,1,Chris Hemsworth,1,Chris Hilk,1,Chris Morgan,1,Chris Pratt,1,Christian Louboutin,1,Christmas Commercials,319,Christos & Yannis,1,Chromat,1,Chrysler,2,Chuck Norris,1,Churchill,1,Cindy Crawford,1,CinemaCon,1,cinemagraphs,1,Cineplex,2,Circles,1,Circus Maximus,1,Ciroc Vodka,1,cisco,7,Citroen,8,CITY 17,1,City Harvest,1,City Harvest Feed NYC,1,City of Hope,2,civilrights.org,1,CK One,1,Clara Montague,1,Clarks,1,Claro,1,Clash Royale,1,Clay Matthews,1,claymation,2,Clear Channel UK,2,Cleco,1,Clemenger BBDO,1,clever ads,77,Clio Awards,1,CLM BBDO,2,clothing,9,Cloud Catcher,1,Club for Life,1,Co-op,1,Co-op Insurance,1,coca cola,9,Coca Cola Logo,1,Coca-Cola,80,Coco de Mer,1,Coco Pops,1,coke,23,Coke Christmas Commercials,6,Coke Zero,12,Coley Porter Bell,1,Colgate MaxFresh,1,Colin Kaepernick,1,Collective London,1,College Bound Dorchester,1,CollegeClickTV,1,Collete Davis,1,Colorblind Christmas Cards,1,Columbia Sportswear,1,Cominar Real Estate Investment Trust,1,commercials,22,Committee LA,1,Community Films,3,CommunityAmerica Credit Union,2,COMPULSORY,2,condom ads,30,CONMEBOL,1,Connor McDavid,1,Conservation International,1,Constance Wu,1,Consumer Products,62,controversial ads,29,Cookie Studio,1,Cool Runnings,1,Coors Light,1,Copacino+Fujikado,3,Corby Spirit and Wine,2,Core Creative,2,Cornett,1,Corona,3,cosmetics,46,cosmote,1,Cossette,11,Cost Plus World Market,2,Course Hero,1,Courtney Hoffman,1,covid-19,2,Cow & Gate,1,CPA,1,crash the superbowl,9,Cravendale,2,Crayola,1,Creat A Better Tommorrow Tonight,1,Creatd,1,Create Not Hate,1,creative,105,creative ads,179,Creative LIAisons program,1,Cricket,2,Crisis of Credit,1,Cristiano Ronaldo,1,Crown Royal,1,Crystal Light,1,CSM Live,1,CSR Awards,1,Cuba Gooding Jr.,1,Cuba Gooding Jr. Optus,1,Culprit Creative,1,Culture Marketing Council (CMC),1,CURB,1,Cut Media,2,Cynical Cupid Snapchat,1,Dacia,1,Dacia Renault,5,Dacor,1,Dairy Farmers of Canada,3,Dame Judi Dench,1,Dan HIrshon,1,Dan Mace,1,Daniel Craig,1,Daniela Braga,1,Danielle,1,Danielle Peazer,1,Danish Cancer Society,2,Danish football,1,Danny DeVito,1,Danny MacAskill,1,Danny McBride,1,Dany Trejo,1,Dapper Labs,1,Dare,1,Dare.Win,1,Dario & Dom,1,Dark Energy,1,Dark Horses,2,Dave Anderson,1,Dave Grohl,1,DAVID,3,David Beckham,8,David Bowie,1,David Indo,1,David Madrid,2,David Ullman,1,David&Goliath,2,Day One Agency,1,DAZN,1,DCX Growth Accelerator,1,DDB Berlin/Hamburg,2,DDB Brussels,1,DDB Canada,7,DDB Mudra,3,DDB New York,2,DDB Unlimited,1,DDB Paris,9,Dean Winters,1,Debenham's,1,Decathlon,1,Decoded Advertising,1,DECON,2,Dee Caffari,1,Defend Your Throne,1,Del Taco,1,Delantero Agency,1,Dele Alli,1,Dell Technologies,1,DENNY'S,2,Dentsu,4,deodorant,1,Derek Carr,1,DesignThinkers Conference,1,Desperados,1,detergent ad,1,Detroit Red Wings,1,Devil May Cry,1,DFS,3,DHL,1,Diageo,2,Diamond Producers Association,1,Diapers,1,DiBella's Subs,1,Dick's Sporting Goods,1,Dickies,1,Diddy,1,Diesel,17,Diet Pepsi,2,Dietz & Watson,2,digital media,14,Digitas Buenos Aires,1,Digitas UK,2,DigitasLBi,1,Dignity Health,2,Dilly Dilly,2,Dine,1,Dior,1,Dipha Barus,1,Direct,1,direct marketing campaign,2,DirecTV,11,Dirt Devil,1,Discover,1,Discovery,1,DISH,1,Disney,8,DJ Khaled,1,DJ Steve Aoki,2,DJ Zedd,2,DLX Inc,1,DNA Project,1,Do Bigger Things,1,Docter Twins,1,Dodge,12,Dodge Ram,1,Dodgems,1,Dogecoin,1,dogs,2,dolce gabbana,5,Dom Perignon,1,Domingo Angelini,6,Don't Panic,3,Donate Life Pennsylvania,1,Doner,1,Doner London,1,dontpayfull.com,1,Dopper,1,Doritos,15,Doritos Blaze,1,Dortmund,1,Dougal Wilson,1,dove,3,Downy,1,DQ,2,Dr. Pepper,12,Dream Garage,1,Droga5,10,droid,3,DRUM,1,du,1,Du Pareil Au Meme,1,Dua Lipa,2,Dublin Zoo,1,Ducati,1,Ducati Panigale V4 Superbike,1,Duncan Channon,12,Duncan Christie,1,Dundas,1,Durex,10,Dutch Ads,4,Duval Guillaume,2,DW Fitness First,1,Dwayne Wade,1,E*Trade,2,EA Sports,11,Earth Hour,1,Earthday.org,1,Eat Just,1,EatStreet,1,Ebay,7,Eclectic,1,EcoSport,1,ED,1,Ed Sheeran,1,EDC,1,Edgewell Personal Care,1,EECU,1,Egg Films,2,Egypt,1,eir,1,ekWateur,1,El Patio,1,Electric Glue,1,Electric Ireland,1,Electric Theatre Collective,1,Electronic Arts,3,electronis,2,Eleven,4,Elisa,1,Elizabeth Hurley,1,Elizabeth Taylor,1,ellen,1,Elon Musk,1,ELOQUII,1,Elves Behavin' Badly,1,Emer Howard,1,Emerald Race,1,Emergen-C,1,Emergency Water Program,1,Emil Nava,1,Emily Ratajkowski,3,Eminem,1,Emirates,2,Emmanuel Lubezki,1,Empathy Inc.,1,EnBW,1,Enchanted Holidays,1,Engine Creative,1,Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba,1,Entering Christian's Mind,1,entertainment ads,4,Entertainment Strategy Shop,1,Entourage,1,environmental ads,36,ENVY Advertising,2,EP+Co,1,Epic Comeback,1,Equal Pay Day Europe,1,Eric Bompard,1,Eric Wareheim,1,Ernest Packaging,1,ESPN,15,ESPN2,1,Esso,1,estee lauder,3,Etcetera,1,ETrade,3,Euphytose Nuit Rituels,1,Eurobest Awards,1,European Ads,460,Eva Kirie,1,Eva Longoria,1,eva Mendes,1,Evan Silver,1,Evelyn the Robot,1,Everday Monster,1,Evian,5,Evolution Bureau,1,Evolve Studios,2,EYRI Iceland Mattresses,1,F1,7,Fabien Ecochard,1,Face ID,1,Facebook,14,Faint 2: A Very Yellow Sequel,1,Fairy Non-Bio,1,Fake News,2,Fallen Angels,1,Fallon,1,Fallon London,1,Fallsview Casino,1,FamousGrey,3,Fans Not Numbers,1,Fanta,1,fantasy night,1,FARCRY5,1,Farm League,3,Farmdrop,1,fashion industry,432,Fayetteville,1,Fayetteville Area Convention and Visitors Bureau,2,FCB Brasil,6,FCB Canada,4,FCB Chicago,2,FCB Toronto,1,Fcb West,2,Fearlessly Independent,1,featured,812,Featured Ads,1195,Featured Creatives,29,Febreeze,1,FedEx,11,Feel the View,1,FELA,1,FHM,1,fiat,15,fiat 500,13,FiberCreme,1,field.io,1,FIFA,17,FIFA 18,7,FIFA 19,1,FiFA U-17,1,Fight Gunfire With Fire,1,Figure 1 Publishing,1,film ads,1,Film4,1,Fin Design + Effects,3,Financial Industry,139,Finavia,1,Finger Music,1,Finlandia,1,Finn,1,Firefly,1,First Choice All Inclusive,1,First Dance,1,FirstBank,1,Fitbit,1,fitness ad,2,Fitzroy Amsterdam,1,Five by Five,1,FKA Twigs,1,Flatpack Films,1,Fledge,1,Fleet Farm,1,FleishmanHillard,1,FlightHub,1,FLOW,1,Fly Market,1,FlyGTA,1,foam studio,1,Fold7,1,Folkoperan,1,Food and Drink,1034,Foot Locker,1,football,3,Footlocker,1,footwear,4,For the Better Campaign,1,For the Love of Sport,1,Ford,27,Ford Hybrid,1,foreign celebrity advertising,2,Forget Me Not Farms,1,Forsman & Bodenfors,4,Fortaleza Esporte Clube,1,Fortnite,2,Foundation for a Better Life,1,Four Loko,1,Fox Sports,2,FP7/McCann,2,Francesco Cassozzini,1,Francesco Cuizza,1,Frank Miller,1,Frank's RedHot,1,Franka Craft Brewery,1,Frederick's Hollywood,1,Free,1,free yourself campaign,1,Freedom Mobile,1,Freesat,1,French ad,11,Fresh Films,1,Friskies,1,Frito-Lays,4,FrontRunner Technologies,1,Fudena,1,Fujifilm INSTAX,1,fundi,1,Fung Bros,1,Funky Town,1,funny ads,176,funny commercials,484,Fuseideas,3,Future Ladies of Wrestling,1,FUTUREDITION,1,FX,2,FXX,1,G7 Entertainment Marketing,2,Gabrielle Union,1,GAIS,1,Galaxy A8,1,Galaxy Note 8,1,galaxy s7,1,Gallery of Emerging Species,1,GameStop,1,gaming,68,GAP,2,Garage Palace,1,Garage Team Mazda,1,Garanimals,1,Garmin,1,Gary Shteyngart,1,GATORADE,19,GEICO,14,General Mills,2,general motors,2,General Pop,1,Generations,1,genesis effect,1,Genesys,1,Gentleman Scholar,4,Gents,4,Geoff,1,Geoff Hounsell,1,George Harrison,1,George RR Martin,1,Georgia,1,German Ad,3,Get Back Alive,1,Gett Delivery,1,GettingBetter,1,Getty Images,1,Ghandi,1,GHD Hair,1,Giano Currie,1,Gift of Go,1,Gigi Hadid,1,Gillette,7,GioCompare,1,GioCompario,1,Giorgio Armani,1,Give Them Tomorrow,1,Givsly,1,Glad,1,Glassworks,1,Glenfiddich,2,Glenmorangie,1,Global Game Village,1,GMC,1,GNS Boutique Publicis,1,Go Dine,1,Go Mahoosive,1,GO Transit,1,Go Vilnius,1,Go with the Flaw,1,GoBuyside,1,GoCompare,4,GoDaddy,15,Goerge Clooney,1,GoGurt,1,Golden Door,1,Golden LA,1,Golden State Warriors,1,Golden Wolf,1,golf,1,Golf Canada,1,Good Odds,1,Good People,1,Goodby Silverstein & Partners,1,Goodzilla,1,google,147,google ads,10,Google Chrome,11,Google Chrome Shorts,1,Google Cloud,1,google doodle,2,Google Home,1,google Nexus,6,Google Pixel,1,Google Pixel 2,4,google+,1,Gorillaz,1,Got Milk,24,Goteborg Film Festival,1,Graham Chisholm,1,Gramercy Park Studios,2,Grand Basel,1,Grand Clio,1,Grant Stinchfield,1,great ad campaigns,137,great ads,1303,great ads. Scrabble,2,great advertisements,22,great advertising,86,Great Clients,1,Great Guns,18,Great Southern Wood Preserving,1,Great Tastes of America,1,Green Ads,17,Green Bay Packers,2,Greenpeace,2,Grey Hoodie Company,1,Grey London,10,Grey Malaysia,1,GREY NY,21,Grey Poland,1,Grey Russia,1,Grey SF,2,Grimes,1,Groupon,3,Growing Up,1,GSD&M,1,GSM,1,GTB,1,GTB Brazil,1,GTB Roma,1,Guardians of Grub,1,gucci,3,Guerrilla Marketing,8,Guess,1,Guide to Christmassing,1,Guillermo del Toro,1,Guiness,1,GUINNESS BEER,9,guitar hero,1,Guns or Knives,2,Guter Stoff,1,Gutzandglory,2,Guy Barnea,1,Gymboree,1,Gymbox,1,Gyre9,2,gyro,1,H&M,1,H&M Erdem,1,H&R Block,1,H2oh,1,Haig Club,1,Hailey Bieber,1,HALO Trust,1,Hamish Rothwell,1,Hammerson,1,Hannah Cunnigham,1,Hans Anders,1,Hans Walor,1,Happydent,1,Harbin Beer,1,hardee's,1,HARIBO,2,Harley Davidson,2,Harrah's,1,Harry Dean Stanton,1,Harry Kane,1,Harry Rosen,1,Harry's,1,Hartford Insurance,1,Hartford Paralympians,1,Harvey Nichols,4,hasan & partners,1,Hatem El Akad,1,Haute,1,Havas,5,HBO,2,He-man,1,head and shoulders,5,Hearts & Science UK,1,Heathrow Aiport,1,Heidi Klum,1,Heimat,3,Heineken,45,Heineken Logo,1,Heinz,1,Heinz Beanz,1,Heisman House,1,Hell Pizza,1,HELL YEAH!,2,Help a Dane,1,Hennessy,2,Hennessy Paradis Imperial,1,Herezie,3,Herezie Group,2,Hermes,1,Hershey's,1,hersheys. rascal flatts,1,Hey World,1,HeyHuman,1,HI,1,higher education,2,Highland Capital Management,1,Highways Englad,1,Hill Street Beverage Company,1,History Will Be Made,1,Hive,1,Hjaltelin Stah,1,hockey,1,Hogarth,1,Holden Colorado,1,Holiday Ad,10,Hollywood Director,1,Hollywood Stars,1,Home Equity Bank,1,home furnishings,1,home insurance,1,Home Paternity,1,HomeEquity Bank,2,HomePod,1,honda,37,Honda Acccord,1,Honda Gold Wing,1,honda jazz,1,Honda motorcycle,2,Honey Birdette,2,Hong Kong,1,Honibe,1,Honor Roll,1,Hope on Wheels,2,Hornbach,2,Hornitos Tequila,1,HOT TUB STOPS HUNGER,1,Hot Wheels,1,hotel ad,2,Hotel Intimacy Guide,1,Hotels.com,1,hotwheels,2,House of Greenland,2,How Now Creative,2,hp,4,HP Touchsmart,1,HPE,1,HSBC,3,Huawei,2,Huawei Band 2 Pro,1,Huawei Mat 10 Pro,1,Hudson's Bay,2,Huggies,3,Hugh Jackman,2,Hugh Laurie,1,HULU,4,Hum,1,Human Forward,1,Human Made Stories,1,Humanaut,4,HUMANSEVEN,3,hummel,1,Hunter's,1,HUSH Studio,1,Husqvarna,1,Hype,1,Hypebeast,1,Hyrrs: Festive Hymns Made Feminist,1,Hyundai,9,Hyundai Elantra,2,Hyundai Genesis,6,Hyundai Kona,2,Hyundai Protect,1,Hyundai Sonata,4,Hyundai Veloster,1,I AM HERE,1,I Love You,1,I Love You America,1,I Move Me,1,I Will,1,iAds,1,IBM,7,ICA,1,ICEE,1,Iceland,1,Iceland Foods,1,Iceland Soccer Team,1,Icelandic Provisions,1,ICF Olson,2,Iconoclast,1,IDEA,1,Idea Farm,1,IDEA Summit,1,Idris Elba,1,Igloofest,1,IHOB,1,IHOP,1,ikea,51,Ikea Logo,1,Ilya Naishuller,1,IMA,2,image mapping,1,Image Work,1,IMC European Awards,1,In The Company of Huskies,4,Inc.,1,India,16,Infiniti,2,Influence Agency,1,Information is Beautiful,1,ING,1,ING Bank,1,Ingenuity Studios,1,INGLOURIOUS BASTERD,1,Innerspace,1,Inniskillin,1,INNOCEAN,6,InnovAsian,1,InnoveLab,1,Institute of Communication Agencies,1,Institute of Management Accountants (IMA),3,insurance,2,Intel,3,Interac,2,interactive ads,5,Intermarche,4,International Advertising Association,1,International ECHO Awards,2,International Federation for Human Rights,1,International Rescue Committee (IRC),1,International Women's Day,4,Into Film,1,intu,1,ipad,12,iPad 2,2,iPad Pro,2,iPhone,72,iPhone 3G,1,iPhone 4,2,iPhone 8,2,iPhone 8 plus,1,iPhone App,2,iPhone X,5,Iphone Xs,2,iPod Nano,1,IPSO Logo,1,Ireen Wust,1,Ireland,1,iris Jakarta,1,Irish Daily Mail Magazine,1,Isabel Munoz,1,Isaiah Mustafa,7,isobel,1,Israel Ad,1,Issa Rae,1,It Takes a Village,1,It's Just a Phase,1,Italian,16,Ithaca College,1,ITV,2,ITV2,1,Ivan Larionov,1,J. Walter Thompson,6,J.J. Stratford,1,J.P. Wiser,1,Jack Daniel's,4,jack daniels old no 7,2,Jack Webster Awards,2,Jade,1,Jaguar,2,Jamaica,1,James Arthur,1,James Bond,3,James Dondero,1,James Hinchliffe,1,Jan Lucas,1,Jane Jin,3,Japan,8,Jaquar,1,Jason Derulo,1,Jason Witten,1,Jason Wu,1,JC Penny,8,JC Whitney,1,JD Sports,1,JD Williams,1,JEAN,2,Jeans Ads,2,Jeep,2,Jeff Bezos,1,Jeff Yeats,1,Jenga,1,Jennifer Aniston,1,jennifer Lopez,2,Jeremy Clarkson,1,Jerry Seinfeld,2,Jet.com,1,Jewel,1,Jif,1,Jillian Michaels,1,Jillz Cider,1,Jim Beam,1,Jim Downey,1,Jimmy John's,1,Jimmy Nelson,1,Jing Wei,1,JMP,1,Jo Motoyo,1,jobs,1,Jockey Underwear,2,Joe Berkeley,1,Joe Biden,1,JOHANNES LEONARDO,1,John C Jay,1,John Goodman,1,John Lewis,5,John Lewis ads,11,John Lewis Christmas 2017,1,JOHN LEWIS XMAS 2008,2,john st.,5,John Wall,1,Johnnie Walker,7,Johnny Weir,1,Jollibee,1,Jon Hamm,1,Jon Reinfurt,1,Jonathan Glazer,1,Jones+Tino,1,Jonny & Will,1,Joon Airlines,1,Jordan,2,Joseph Kahn,1,Joseph Mann,1,Josephine Skriver,1,Joshua Ferris,1,Joy of Home,1,JP Morgan Chase,1,JR Smith,1,JuiceBar,1,Julia Hengel,1,Juliet,2,June's HIV+ Eatery,1,Jung von Matt/Limmat,1,Just Dance 2019,1,Just Eat,1,just like you,1,JustFly,1,Justin Verlander,1,JWT,5,JWT Amsterdam,2,JWT Atlanta,1,JWT Milan,1,K-Swiss,1,Kahlua,1,Kaiser Lachance Communications,1,Kalinka,1,Kampgrounds of America,1,Kansas City,1,Kansas City Chiefs,2,Kanye West,1,Karlie Kloss,1,Kat Graham,1,Kate Bosomworth,1,Kate Moss,1,Kate Spade New York,1,Kathryn Hahn,1,Katy Huang,3,Katy Perry,2,Kawhi Leonard,1,KBS,3,KEEPGOING,1,Kelia Moniz,1,Kellogg's,9,kelly slater,1,Kenan Thompson,2,Kendall Jenner,1,Kendrick Lamar,1,Kevin and Katie Carro,1,kevin bacon,1,Kevin Hart,1,KFC,13,KFC Japan Christmas,1,KIA,4,Kia Motors,22,Kia Stinger GT,1,Kilvington Grammar,1,KILZ,1,Kim Sae-jeong,1,KIND Snacks,1,Kinder Bueno,1,Kingsmill,1,Kit Kat,11,Kit Lynch-Robinson,1,KitchenAid,1,kleenex,1,KLM,3,Knouse Foods,1,Kobe Bryant,2,kohl's black friday,1,Koho,1,KOJOE,1,Kolohe Andino,1,Kona,2,Kopparberg,1,Korabiewice Shelter,1,Kraft Heinz,1,Kre8 Media,1,krow,3,Kruger,2,KSV,1,kwiff,1,Kyle Lewis,1,Kylie Minogue,2,L.L. Bean,1,L'Auberge des Migrants,1,L'Oreal,1,L*Space,1,LA / PAC,1,La Banane,1,la communidad,4,La Flamee,1,La Manufacture credits,1,LA Models,1,Labrinth,2,Lacoste,2,Lacta,1,LACTACYD,1,LaDanian Tomlinson,1,LADBible,1,Lady Gaga,1,Lahti,1,LAIR TV,1,LaMarcus Aldridge,1,Lamborghini,1,Lamptan,1,Land O'Lakes,1,Land Rover,9,laptop,1,Lara Croft,1,Las Vegas Ads,5,Laughing Man Coffee,1,Laughlin Constable,4,Laundry Service,1,Lauren Cole,1,Laurence Thrush,1,Law Chen,1,LCI Workers' Comp,1,Le Mur,1,Leavenworth,1,Lebogang Rasethaba,1,Lebron James,12,Lee Child,1,Leftchannel,1,Legends Collection,1,Legion,1,Lego,19,Lego Click,1,LEGOLAND,1,Leica,2,Leif,1,Lemaitre,1,Leningrad,1,Lennie Stern,1,Lenovo,3,Leo Burnett,27,Leonardo da Vinci,1,Leroy Merlin,2,Les Affaires,1,Les Gaulois Paris,1,Les Recettes Ferme dAnchin,1,Les Twins,1,Leucan,1,Levi's Jeans Ads,17,lexus,31,Lexus Plus,1,LG,8,LIDA,1,Life Cereal,1,Life Essentials,1,LIfe is Good,1,Lifespan,1,Lifetime Movies,2,LIGHT+CO,1,LightHouse Films,1,Like A Boss,1,Lilit Reyes,1,Lin-Manuel Miranda,1,Lindsey Vonn,2,Liniya Mannergiymu,1,Lionel Messi,7,Lipton Brisk,2,Lipton Ice Tea,3,Liquid Agency,1,liquor ad,7,Lisbon Awards,1,Lisette Azulay,3,littleBits,1,live action,1,Live in Levi's,1,Livestrong,1,Livewear,1,Liz Reynolds,1,Loblaw,1,Logan,2,logitech,1,Lokerse Feesten,1,London Air Ambulance Charity,1,London International Awards (LIA),5,Longchamp,1,Lord Danger,3,Lordstown Motors,1,Los Angeles,1,Los Angeles Raiders,1,Los York,1,Loto,1,Lotto,1,LOTTO 6/49,1,Louis Vuitton,4,Louis Walsh,1,Louis XIV,1,Love + Money,1,Love Beats Money,1,Love Letter to Shibuya,1,Lowe Lintas Delhi,1,lowe's,5,LP/AD Toronto,2,LS Productions,5,LUcas Camargo,1,Lucas Zanotto,1,Luciano Carvari,1,Lucky Generals,6,Lucky Post,5,Lucozade,3,Luis Suarez,1,LUP Jarkarta,1,lynx,4,lynx Excite,1,M&C Saatchi,8,M&C Saatchi Abel,2,M&M's,4,mac vs pc,10,Mack Anthem,1,Mack Trucks,1,MACY'S 150 YEARS,2,Macys,11,Mad Dogs & Englishmen,1,MAD Magazine,1,Mad Ruffian,1,MAD TV,2,MADD,2,Madden,1,MadeGood,1,MagmaCore Extreme,1,Magnum Opus Partners,1,MagnustTheMagnus,1,Maia Weinstock,1,Maine Lottery,1,Major League Baseball,1,Majority Films,1,Make Humanity Great Again,1,Making of a Gem,1,Malibu,1,Man vs Goat,1,Manchester United,2,Manitoba 2030 Coalition,1,Manor,2,MANta Claus,1,Manu Brabo,1,Manuka Health,1,Manulife,1,Marc Herremans,1,Marc Jacobs,1,Marc-Andre Fleury,1,Marcel,2,Marcelo,1,March of Dimes,1,Marcus Thomas,1,Maren Morris,1,Margaret Elman,1,Maria Bamford,1,Mariana Ferreira,1,Mariana Von Fedak,1,Marie Claire,1,Marie Curie,1,Marie Keating Foundation,1,Mario Kart Tour,1,Mark Ward,1,marketing campaign,1,Marks & Spencer,2,Marmite,1,Marmoset,1,Maroon 5,1,Marriott,1,mars bar,2,Mars Wrigley,1,Marshmallow Laser Feast,1,Martin Sorrell,1,Martin-Pouret,1,Martini Bianco,1,Marvel,4,Mass Save,1,MasterCard,4,MasterCard Priceless,8,Mastermind,1,Match,1,Match.com,3,matchmaking,1,Matt Damon,2,mattel,1,Matthew McConaughey,1,Maui Soap Company,1,Max Domi,1,Maxell,1,Maximum Effort,1,Mayor Sly James,1,Mazarin,1,mazda,3,Maze,1,McCafe,1,McCann,3,McCann Health,1,McCann London,4,McCann Paris,1,McCann//Craft,1,McDelivery,1,McDonald's,93,mcgarrybowen,2,MCM Worldwide,1,Mean Joe Greene,1,MEATATARIANS UNITE,1,MEC,1,Medecins Du Monde,1,Media Design Schools,1,Megan Fox,1,Mellow Pizza,1,meltin pot,1,Mentos,4,Mercator Insurance,1,mercedes-benz,60,MeringCarson,2,Messika Jewelry,1,Miami Ad School,18,miata rf,1,Michael B. Jordan,1,Michael Bay,1,Michael Buble,1,Michael Jackson,1,Michael Jackson Pepsi Ads,5,Michael Phelps,1,Michael Schumacher,1,Michel Foucault,1,michelin tires,2,Michelle Beadle,1,Michelob Ultra,2,Microsoft,49,Microsoft Classic Intellimouse,1,Midas Awards,3,middle east ad,3,Middle-earth: Shadow of War,1,Midnight,1,Mika,1,Mika Hakkinen,1,Mike Will Made It,1,Milan Fashion Week,1,Miley Cyrus,1,Military Officers Association of America,2,milk,7,Milk Marketing Board,2,Milky Way,1,Miller Lite,2,MILLER LITE 1 SECOND AD,2,Millie Bobby Brown,2,Milwaukee Bucks,2,Mindshare,1,MINI,18,Minnesota Wild,1,Miriam Wimmer,1,Mirriad,1,Misbehavin,1,MISS DIOR CHERIE,1,Missing Children Society of Canada,1,Missouri Lottery,1,Mister Sweat,1,Mistress,2,Mitchum,1,Mitesh Addhate,4,Mitsubishi,3,mixed martial arts,1,MKTG,1,MKTG Canada,1,MLB,6,MNSTR,1,mobile,7,mobile advertising,2,Mobile Vikings,1,Mobility Anthem,1,models,4,Moleskine,1,Mollie Bylett,1,Mollie Mills,1,Mom Jeans,1,Monopoly,2,Monster Bill,1,Monster Truck,1,MonsterBil,1,Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau,1,Montreal Children's Hospital,1,MOO,1,Moonpig,1,Morrisons,1,mortierbrigade,8,Most Likely To,1,Mother London,2,Mother Theresa,1,Motion Picture Television Fund,1,Motive Made Studios,1,Motorola,1,mountain dew,3,Mountain Equipment Co-op,1,Movember,1,Movement Strategy,3,MOVIE PROMOS,31,movie trailers,36,Moving Iage & Content,1,Movistar,1,Mox,1,Moz the Monster,1,Mr Kipling,1,Mr Sub,1,Mr. Robot,1,Mr. Wolf,1,Mtn Dew Ice,1,MTV,7,Mubrella Awards,1,much music,1,Muhammad Ali,1,Mullen and Lowe,1,Muscle Milk,1,Muse Communciations,1,Musea Brugge,1,music,175,Music of the Mind,1,music video,1,music videos,12,Musselman's Apple Sauce,1,Must Be Loud,1,Mustang GT,1,Mutt Film,1,MVP Puppets,8,MvVo Art,1,Myer's Australia,1,Myers,1,NAIL,8,nando's,2,Nantucket License Plate Project,1,Narrative,1,Nas,1,NASCAR,1,Nastya Timos,1,Natalie Portman,1,National Audubon Society,1,National Bank,1,National CASA/GAL,1,National Federation of the Blind,1,National Geographic,3,National Golf Foundation,1,National Park Foundation,1,National Post,1,National Safety Council,1,Nationwide Insurance,1,Nature Valley,1,Nature's Bakery,1,Nazionale della Moda Italiana,1,nba,45,NBA 2K19,1,NBA 2K20,1,NBCU Content Studio,1,Neel Majumder,12,NEER Motion,1,Neil Huxley,1,Nemo's Garden,1,NerdWallet,1,Nescafe,2,Nespresso,2,Neste,1,Nestle,3,Netflix,1,New Balance,4,New Era,2,New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation,1,New York Festivals,1,New York Festivals International Advertising Awards,1,new zealand,3,New Zealand Jerky,1,Newcastle Brown Ale,1,NewFest,1,Newport Beach Film Festival,1,News,7,Nexus Studios,2,Neymar Jr.,5,NFL,65,NFL Color Rush,1,NFL Foundation,1,NFL Gamepass,2,NFL London Games,1,NHL,15,NHS,1,Nice Shoes,1,Nick & Chloe,1,NIck West,1,Nick Wickham,1,Nick Young,1,Nicole + Felicia Coutoure,1,Nicole Kidman,1,Nicole Scherzinger,1,Nicos Livesey,1,Night Queen,1,nike,19,nike ads,87,NIkita Dragun,1,nineteentwenty,1,Ninjas,1,nintendo,6,Nintendo Labo,1,Nipsey Hussle,1,Nissan,1,NISSAN CROSSOVERS,2,Nissan Juke,1,Nissan Micra,1,NIVEA,1,No Frills,3,No Limits to Music,1,No Yolks,1,Noah Harris,1,Nokia,7,Nokia 5800,1,nokia N8,1,Nomex,1,NOMINT,3,Nong Poonsukwattana,1,noosa,1,Norah Jones,1,norte beer,1,North,4,North Carolina,1,Northwest RiverPartners,1,Norton,1,Nothing Bundt Cakes,1,Novak Djokovic,1,NRA,1,NSPCC,1,NutriBullet,1,NYCNext,1,oberlo,1,Observatory,1,ODD,1,Office of Baby,1,office politics,1,Ogilvy,8,Ogilvy & Mather,1,Ogilvy Johannesburg,1,Ohio Lottery,1,Oikocredit,1,Okaybro,1,Olaf Hajek,1,Old Navy,3,OLD SPICE,35,OLD SPICE.,7,OLIO,1,OluKai,1,Olympique de Marseille,1,One Club for Creativity,68,One Door,1,One Man Studio,1,One Screen Short Film Festival,1,One Show,4,One Team,1,OneMethod,1,OnePlus,1,OneRepublic,1,Onken,1,online campaigns,16,Only Vegas Moments,1,ONLYCH1LD,1,Opel,2,OpenTable,1,opera,1,Operation Enfant Soleil,1,Optima,2,Optus,1,Optus Sport,1,Orange,6,Orci,1,Oren Lavie,2,Oreo Cookie,17,Organic Valley,1,Organo Gold,1,Origins,1,Orkin,1,ornage,1,Oscar Mayer,1,Oskar Blues,1,Our/Vodka,1,Ousmane Dembele,1,Outdoor Billboard Ads,28,Outdoor Media Awards,1,Outside Thinkers,1,OWDT,1,Owen Wilson,1,Oxfam,1,Ozzy Osbourne,2,P-Diddy,1,Pablo,1,Pacifica,1,PACRONYM,1,Paddington 2,1,Paddington and the Christmas Visitor,1,Palak Kapadia,4,Pampers,4,Panasonic,2,Panda cheese,1,Panda Express,1,Panenka,1,Pantene Shampoo,2,Pantene Violin,1,paper-cutting,1,Parabella,1,Parachute,1,Paradais DDB,1,Paralympics,1,Paris 2024,1,Paris Saint Germain,3,Park Bo-gum,1,Parking Lot,1,ParkinSON,1,Parody Ad,5,ParticipACTION,1,Pass It On,1,Pathways to Education,1,Patrick Ewing,1,Patrick Mahomes,2,Patrick Scullin,1,Patron,1,Paul Martinez,1,Paul McCartney,1,Paul Pogba,1,Paul Stone,1,Pavone,1,Pay ID,1,Pay the Price,1,Pay with Views,1,Payless,1,Paypal,3,PB&,2,PC,1,Peace Collective,1,Peak Games,1,Pearl's Peril,1,PEDIGREE,2,PEER 1,1,Peer Into A Soul,2,Peggy Lee,1,Peloton,2,Penn State,1,Penny,3,Peoples Jewellers,1,PepperJam,1,Pepsi,28,Pepsi Co,2,PEPSI COLA,11,Pepsi Generations,1,Pepsi Max,2,PepsiCo,1,Pereira O'Dell,4,Pereira O'Dell New York,1,perrier,6,Pet Care & Food,18,PETA,14,Peter Kariuki,1,Petit Bateau,1,Peugeot,2,Peyton Manning,1,PHD,1,Phenoms,1,Philharmonie de Paris,1,Philips,1,Pietro Boselli,1,Pilgrim's Choice,2,PIlot Pens,1,Pimento,1,Pinalen,1,Pink Ribbon,1,Pip & Nut,1,Pizza Hut,2,PJA,1,Plan,1,Plan A,1,Plan.Net,1,Planet Fitness,2,Planters Peanuts,1,Play Less Nice,1,Play-Doh,1,playboy,2,PLUS Supermarket,2,podcast,1,Polish Press Agency,1,Political Ads,57,pollution,1,Pop'N Creative,1,Porsche,2,Porsche Ads,5,Portrait Mode,1,Post Hostess,1,Post Malone,1,Post-it,1,posters,2,Posterscope,1,Power of Optimism,1,Powering You,1,PR Firms,1,Premier League,3,Premier League Primary Stars Resources,2,President's Choice,1,press releases,1,Preview Trailers,25,Princess Yachts,2,Pringles,8,print ads,249,print adsclever ads,1,Prisma,1,Prius Hybred,1,Procreate London,1,proctor and gamble,6,professional bull riding,1,Progress is Perfection,1,Proverb,1,Providence Children's Museum,1,provocative ads,4,PSA,428,psp,2,Psyop,5,PUBG,1,Public Awareness,260,Public Citizen,1,Public Relations,1,Publicis,37,PublicisPoke,3,Publicity Stunts,2,Pulse Productions,1,PUMA,15,Purchase Brothers,1,Purpose Disruptors,1,PyeongChang 2018,5,Qatar Airways,1,QDOBA,1,qr code advertising,3,Quantanamera,1,quench,2,Quentin Jones,1,Quicken Loans,1,quicksilver,1,Quiet Storm,6,QX50,1,R/GA 360i,1,R&R Partners,1,R+S,1,Racket Club,1,Radical Media,2,radio,2,Rain 43,1,RaknRoll charity foundation,1,Rakuten,2,Randstad,1,RAV4,1,Ray-Ban,10,Raza Ad,1,RCLUB,1,Real Kashmir FC,1,Real Madrid FC,1,rebecca black friday,1,Rebort To Be Alive,1,Recipe,1,Recipe Theft,1,recruitment campaign,1,Red Bull,1,red cross,4,Red Lion,1,Red Star FC,1,Red Tettemer O'Connell + Partners (RTO+P),9,Reddit,1,Redhook Brewlab,1,reebok,15,Reel Nice,1,Reese,1,reetone,1,Reindeer Ready,1,Rejected Ads,5,Remembrance,1,Renault,7,Renault-Nissan,3,Renovo,1,Replay,1,Reporters Without Borders Germany,1,retro ad,1,Revolve,1,Revolver Amsterdam,1,Rey Mysterio,1,Reyka Vodka,1,Rice Krispies,1,Richard Lewis,1,Richard Sherman,1,Rick Ross,1,Ricky Romero,1,Ridley Scott,1,Riipen,1,Rimowa,2,Ringer,1,Rip Curl,1,Rita Ora,1,Roar Uthaug,1,Rob Gronkowski,1,Robert Rodriguez,1,Roc C,1,Rock Bank,1,Rocket Mortgage,1,Rodeo Show,2,Rogers Cup,1,Rogier Wieland,1,Rokkan,1,Romain Quirot,1,Roman,1,Romance,6,Ronald McDonald House,1,Rosapark,3,Rosario Dawson,1,Roseanne Barr,1,Roses Are Blue,1,ROTHCO,12,rotisserie chicken sandwich,1,Rowdy Ronda Rousey,2,Rowntree,1,Rowse Honey,1,Roxane Gay,1,ROXY,1,Royal Ascot,1,Royal Australian Mint,1,Royal Bank of Canada,1,Royal British Legion,1,Royal Opera House,1,Royal Wedding,2,Royle Productions,3,RSA Films,2,RSPCA,1,Rudy Mancuso,1,Ruffian,2,Rugby Six Nations Cup,1,Russel Oliver,1,Russell Schaller,1,Russian ad,9,RW&CO.,1,RX 350L,1,RX 450hl,1,RXM Creative,1,Ryan Reynolds,5,S-Warnings,1,Saatchi & Saatchi,12,Saatchi and Saatchi,16,Safety Code,1,Sainsbury,3,salvation army,1,Sam Conniff Allende,1,Sam Rubinoff,1,Sama Al-Salihi,1,samsung,132,Samsung Galaxy,5,Samsung Galaxy Note 8,2,Samsung Galaxy S9,3,San Diego Comic Con,1,San Diego Tourism Authority,1,San Diego Zoo,1,San Francisco Department for Disability and Aging Services,1,San Marzano Wines,1,Sanctuary,1,SAND,1,Sandile Mkhize,1,Sapna Chadha,1,Sarah Jessica Parker,1,Sarah Silverman,2,Saturday Night Live,3,Saucony,1,Savanna Samson,1,Say Something,1,Scared Straight,1,Scarface,1,Schweppes,2,scion IQ,4,Scott Kelly,1,ScreenCraft,1,Search Party,1,SEAT,1,Seattle,1,Seattle Mariners,1,Seattle Seahawks,1,Second Chances,1,Secret Escapes,1,Sega Football Manager,1,Sehsucht,2,SEK,2,Senain Kheshgi,1,Sephora,1,Serena Williams,3,Serhiy Zhadan,1,Serious Meat,1,Serviceplan,12,Sesame Street,1,Seth Gordon,1,sex,2,sexy ads,158,Shadab Wajih,3,ShadowMachine,1,Shaquem Griffin,1,Sharper Image,1,sharpie,1,Shea Glover,1,Sheldrick Wildlife Trust,1,Shelley Lewis,1,Shelter,1,Shield's Design Studio,1,Shop.NHL.com,1,SHORT FILM,1,SHORT FILMS,4,Shorty Awards,1,Showtime,1,Shreddies,1,Sibling Rivalry,1,SickKids,2,Sid Lee,14,Sideshow,1,siggi,1,Signal Zero,1,Sigurd Larsen,1,Silk,1,Similau,1,Simmons,1,Simple,2,SIMPLE MATH,1,Sims 3,1,Sims Video Game,1,SingleCut Beersmiths,1,Singtel,1,Sioo-x,1,SK-II,3,Skedaddle,1,Skeletor,1,Skiltles,1,Skinny Love,1,SKINS,1,Skittles,9,SKODA KAROQ,1,Sky Bet,1,Sky Cinema,1,Sky Q,1,Sky Sports,4,Skyn,2,SleepShopper,1,Slinky,1,SM Supermalls,1,Small Spaces,1,Smart car,1,Smart Energy GB,1,SmartWater,1,Smartypants,1,Smile,14,smirnoff,5,Smirnoff Purity Vodka,2,Smith and Foulkes,1,Smith Brothers Agency,1,Smithsonian,1,Smokey the Bear,1,smoking ads,2,Snackable Content Awards,1,Snap,1,Sncakable Content Awards,1,SNFestival 2018,1,SNICKERS,22,SNL,1,Snoop Dogg,3,Snow,1,Soar,1,sobe,2,soccer,8,Social Media Advertising,95,Society of Professional Journalists,1,SodaStream,1,Sofia Vergara,1,Sofology,1,soft-drink ad,1,solar energy,1,sony,26,Sony Bravia,5,SONY DOMINOS,1,Sony VAIO,2,SOS Children's Villages,1,SOS Villages dEnfants,1,Sound Transit,1,Soundstripe,2,South African ad,2,Southeastern Guide Dogs,1,Southern Nevada Water Authority,1,Southwest Airlines,1,Space,1,spain ad,1,spanish,2,Spanish Federatkon of Breast Cancer (FECMA),1,Spanish Lottery,1,Spark,1,Spark Foundry,1,Spark44,2,Spawn Ideas,1,Spears & Arrows,3,spec ad,29,Special K,1,Special Olympics,2,Specsavers,1,Spike Jonze,1,Spike Lee,1,Spittn Image,2,Spoiler Killers,1,Spokeslistener,1,sponsored,1,sponsored post,43,spoof ads,24,SPORF,1,Sportable Gift Wrap,1,sports ad,1,sports ads,729,sports illustrated,2,SportsNation,1,Spotify,4,Sprint,1,Sprite,3,SquareEnix,1,St. John,1,St. Patrick's Day Ad,2,Stage 13,1,Stance,1,Stand Up To Cancer,1,Stanley,1,Star Wars,4,Starbucks,2,Starburst,2,StarKist,1,Start Your Impossible,1,state farm,15,Stay Close,1,STEAM Inventor Kits,1,Stell McCartney,1,Stella Artois,10,Stendahls,5,Stephen Arnold Music,1,Stephen Curry,1,Stepping Stone,1,Steve,1,steve jobs,1,Steve Moakler,1,Steven Mangan,1,Steven Spielberg,1,Stevie Gee,1,Stihl,1,Stingray Digital Group Inc.,1,Stink Films,1,Stitch Fix,1,Stone Dogs,1,stop motion,7,Story Worldwide,1,Strava,1,street art,1,String and Tins,3,StubHub,1,Studio Kimchi,1,stunt ad,4,Style Seeker,1,SU2C,1,Suas,1,subaru,21,Subway,10,Suede Gully,1,Sugar Todd,1,Sumatran Orangutan Society,1,Sun Creatures Studio,1,Sun Life,1,Suncorp Bank,1,Sundance Institute,2,Sunglass Hut,1,Super Bowl 2012,29,Super Bowl 2013 Ads,60,super bowl 2017 LI,41,Super Bowl 2018 LII,23,Super Bowl 2019 LIII,19,super bowl 50 ads,23,Super Bowl Ad,55,super bowl ads,31,Super Bowl XLIX 2015,24,super bowl XLVI,18,Super Bowl XLVII,8,Super Bowl XLVIII,22,Super Mario Odyssey,1,Super Yummies,1,SuperBowl,20,SuperBowl Ads,26,superbowl XLIV,3,Superconductor,1,Superette,1,superfun,1,SuperValu,3,Suzuki,1,SVEDKA Vodka,1,Sway,1,Sweden,2,SweeTARTS,1,SXSW,1,SYFY,3,Syn,1,System 1 Agency,1,T-Mobile Advert,5,T-Roc SUV,1,TABASCO,1,taco bell,9,Taika Watiti,1,Take a Shot,1,Takealot.com,1,TAKEOUT,1,Takis,1,Tal Zagreba,1,Talan Group,1,Talenti Gelato & Sorbetto,1,Tally Rye,1,Tamika Miller,1,target,2,Target Ads,24,TASTE,1,TBC,1,TBD,1,TBWA,5,TBWA/Chiat/Day,4,TBWA\Dublin,6,TBWA\NEBOKO,3,TBWA\RAAD,1,TDA Boulder,2,Teach Me How to Curl,1,Teacher Kids,1,Team One,11,teasers,6,technology,678,Ted Pedro,3,Teeboween,1,teen skincare,1,Telekom,1,Telkom,2,Telly Awards,3,Tennis,1,Terani Couture,1,Terminex,1,Terramor Outdoor Resort,1,Terry's Chocolate,1,Tesco Ireland,2,Tessa Films,1,TG Herrington,1,Thailand,1,Thalys,2,That's Not Enough,1,The Artery,1,The Audition,1,The Backseat Driver Experience,1,the Big Chicken,1,The Big Now,1,The Blink Fish,1,The Canada Games Council,1,The Center for Youth Wellness,1,The Classico,1,the community,9,The Creative Group,1,The Diver,1,The Economist,2,The Elements Music,1,The Fearless are Here,1,The Garden,1,The Gate NY,10,The Great British Bake Off,1,The Handoff,1,The Heist No One is Talking About,1,The Hive,1,the hobbit,2,The Layzell Bros,1,THE LIFESTORE,1,The Many,2,The Martin Agency,2,The Moment,1,The Moving Parliament,1,The Musician,1,The Nelson Mandela Foundation,1,The New Blank,1,The Obvious Choice,1,The Perfect Fit,1,The Rec League,1,The Reindeer Princess,1,The Republik,2,The Rock,1,The Rolling Stones,2,The Royals,1,The Supporting Act,1,The Three Bears Breakfast Cooking Show,1,The Ting Tings,1,The Toughest Rivalry,1,The Trash Isles,1,The Vodka Family,1,the Vodka with Nothing to Hide,1,The Weather Network,1,The Women's Foundation,1,The Woo,1,The&Partnership,1,themission,1,Theo Lopez,1,Therapy Content,1,THEY,1,Things Unlimited,1,Thinking Machine,1,This Is Our Ice,1,THRESHER,1,Thums Up,1,Tide,1,Tide pod Challenge,1,Tiger Woods,3,TikTok,1,Tim and Charlie,1,Tim Hortons,3,Tim Marten,1,Tim Tebow,1,Timber,5,Timberland,1,Timeless Classic Ads,11,Timer,1,Tina Assadpour,2,Tina Fey,2,Tinder,1,Tire Pros,1,Tm Batt,1,TMF Travel,1,TMW Unlimited,7,TMX Group,1,tobacco ads,1,Todrick Hall,1,Tofoo Company,1,Together Forever,1,TogetherWeAare10,1,TOKYO,2,Tom Brady,1,Tom Cruise,1,Tom Denford,1,Tomb Raider,2,Tommy Hilfiger,1,Toni Kroos,1,Tony Stewart,1,top 10,3,Top 11,8,Topshop,1,Toronto,46,Toronto Blue Jays,1,Toronto Crime Stoppers,1,Toronto Raptors,1,toshiba,4,Toth+Co,1,TOTO,1,Tourism & Travel,102,Tourism Australia,2,Tourism Fiji,1,Toyota,47,Toys For Tots Canada,1,Toys R Us,1,TPH,1,TRADER Corporation,1,Training Shoe,1,Tramontina,1,Transavia,1,Translators Without Borders,1,Travel,10,Travel & Tourism,107,Travel Oregon,1,Travelocity,1,Treats 4 Toys,1,trendy,678,Tribal Worldwide,1,Tribeca Film Festival,1,TRIDENT GIRLS,1,Trolli,1,Tropicana,4,TROUBLEMAKERS.tv,6,troy polamalu,6,Try And Love,1,Try Intimate Lubricant Gel,1,TrygFonden,1,Tuborg,1,TUI,2,Tulips and Chimneys,1,Tullamore D.E.W. Irish Whiskey,2,TUMI,1,Tums,1,TuneIn,1,Turandot,1,Turkish Airlines,2,TV promo,9,TVN Channel,1,Twelve,1,twitter,7,Twix,1,Tyler Seguin,1,Tyler Stavola,1,Tyson Breuer,1,U2,1,UAE,2,Uber,3,Uber Eats,2,Ubertoys,1,Ubisoft,5,Ubisoft Rocksmith,1,UEFA,3,UFC,3,Ugo Cacciator,1,UK ADVERTS,447,UK Department of International Trade,1,UK HOVIS,2,UMe,2,under armour,3,UNESCO,2,unhate,2,UNHCR,1,UNICEF,3,Unilever,1,UNIQLO,2,UNISON,1,UNIT9,1,United Airlines,1,United Collection,1,united colors of benetton,4,United States,1,United to Support,1,United Way,2,Universal Kids,1,Universal Music,1,universal studios,1,University of Phoenix,1,Unlimited Group,1,Unroll Me,1,Untitled Films,1,Untitled.tv,1,UNTUCKit,1,Upfield,1,Uppercut,1,UPS,3,Upwork,2,US ELECTIONS,2,USA Today,1,Usain Bolt,1,Utopia,1,Valenstein & Fatt,1,Valentine's Day,1,Valeska Castillo,1,Van Black,1,Van Cleef & Arpels,2,Vanarama,1,Vanish,1,VanMoof,1,Vann Graves,1,Vans,1,VaynerMedia,1,Veloz,2,Venables Bell and Partners,3,Venus Williams,1,Verizon,6,Vernon Davis,1,Versace,2,Versailles,1,Very Agency,1,Very.co.uk,1,VIA,1,VIA Rail,1,Viagra,2,VIBRANT,3,VICE Media,3,Vicks,2,Victoria Beer,1,Victoria's Secret,13,video clips,29,video games,21,Vienna Beef,1,Viktor & Rolf Fragrances,1,Vileda,1,Vincent Duvignac,1,vintage ads,9,Vionic,1,VIRAL,70,viral marketing,15,Virgin Galactic,1,Virgin Media,8,Virgin Trains,1,Virtual Reality,1,Virtuo,1,Visa,13,Visit California,1,vitaminwater,2,VIVA! Vegans' International Voice for Animals,1,Vivo,1,Vivo V9,1,VIZIO,1,Vluchtelingenwerk Vlaanderen,1,VML,1,vodafone,7,Vogue,2,Volkswagen VW,77,volvo,40,Volvo V40,1,Volvo V60,2,Von Miller,2,Vonshine Industries,1,voodoo,1,Voyage,1,VSA Partners,1,VW Polo,2,Waitrose & Partners,5,Wake App,1,Walgreens,1,Walk In Fridge,1,Walkers Family Snacks,1,walmart,13,War Child,1,Warner Bros.,4,washlet,1,WASSUP 8 YEARS LATER,1,Water.org,3,Wayne Rooney,1,Waze,1,Waze Carpool,1,WBE Canada,1,WCRS,1,We Are All Science Fiction Fans,1,We Are Social,4,We Are United,1,We Speak Car,1,wearables,1,Weekends at,1,weight watchers,3,Welcome to the Pack,1,Welcoming America,1,Wendy's,6,Werkstuck,1,WestJet,4,WeTransfer,1,WHALE SONG,1,What if the Best Present Was You,1,WHAT IS G,1,Whatsapp,1,WhenEva Wowza,1,Where Eagles Dare,1,Where's the Beef,1,Which?,2,Whirlpool,1,Whiskas,2,whiteGREY,1,Who Wot Why,1,WHOPPER VIRGINS,1,Wieden+Kennedy,8,Wildbytes,2,Will,3,Will Arnett,1,Willem Dafoe,1,William Grant & Sons Irish Whisky,1,Williams Racing,1,Wimbledon,2,Wimbleton,1,Wind,1,Windows Phone 7,1,Wingstop,1,WNBA,1,Wodka Vodka,1,Women of NASA LEGO,1,Women's Aid,1,Wonder Screen Inc.,1,wonderbra,2,Wonderful Pistachios,1,Wondros,5,Wonsik Cho,1,Woodshop,2,Woody Goomsba,1,Woolworths,1,Workers Credit Union,1,WorkInProgress,2,World Cup Soccer,26,World Down Syndrome Awareness Day,1,World Milk Day,1,world of sports,1,World of Tanks,1,World Press Freedom Day,1,World Radio Day,1,World Teacher Month,1,WPP,2,wrangler jeans,1,Wrigely's,3,WSI,1,Wunderman,1,Wunderman Thompson,5,WWE,1,WWE 2K18,1,WWE 2K19,2,wwf,12,Xandr,1,xbox,15,Xerox,1,Y Male Fragrance,1,Y&R Branding,1,Y&R Dhelet,1,Y&R London,3,Y&R New Zealand,1,yahoo,1,Yakult,2,Yamamay,1,YARD,4,YARD NYC,1,Ye Old Pep Talk,1,YellaWood,2,Yellow Boat Music,2,yellow tail,1,Yes Please Productions,1,YETI,1,Yoland Gampp,1,Yonder Media,2,Yoplait,2,Yorkshire Tea,2,Young & Rubicam,1,Young Designers United,1,Young Guns 15,2,Young Guns 16,2,Young Guns 17,3,Young Guns 18,1,Young Guns 20,1,Young Hero,1,Your Thing,1,YouShall,1,youtube,10,YouTube Creators,1,Yuengling,1,Yulu,1,Yuser,1,Yves Saint Laurent,3,ZALES JEWELERS,4,Zambezi,1,Zappos,1,Zappos.com,1,ZAXIE,1,ZEITGUISEDs,1,Zeitz MOCAA,1,Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa,1,Zenith,1,ZIPPO,2,ZipRecruiter,1,Zoe DJ London,1,Zoflora,1,Zombie Studio,1,Zombies,2,Zulu,1,Zulu Alpha Kilo,34,
















I'm about to tell you something so unbelievable but apparently true.



For over three years now, it appears that a group of judges at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Ottawa who are are all alumni of the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law have been coordinating an apparent human sacrifice conspiracy against an Ottawa woman named Dezrin Carby-Samuels who has been severely disabled as a result of the activities of these judges.



In a nutshell, "human sacrifice" is a reputed activity of "non-human entities" who have coordinated and then reinforce the promotion of certain people into positions of power provided that they show their "loyalty" to the non-human entities when called-upon. The most vulnerable members of our society are targeted for "human sacrifice". The most heinous barbaric acts of cruelty, torture and destruction are a part of a "human sacrifice" ritual.



The alleged practice has taken place since the earliest and most tyrannical societies came into existence on our planet Earth. In these societies, demonic aliens elites sought to worship demonic aliens as their God or gods that often brought technology that would then be used to support military oppression and torture.



Unfortunately, Dezrin Carby-Samuels like so many vulnerable people on our planet are being targeted by non-human beings which can appear as "people". But these "people" are in no way human.



Dr. Michael Salla referred to such entities as "shape shifters". David Icke has further described such entities to be reptilian that operate from a different dimension that reaches into ours.



Such victims like Dezrin include children who go missing as targets of alien abduction (or become victims of pedophile rings) to homeless people on the street who from time to time appear to be been chosen by the non-human handlers as targets of apparent human sacrifice rituals.



My name is Jesse, and I'm an investigative journalist. Since 2015 I have watched the bizarre activities at the Ottawa courthouse at 161 Elgin Street.



I have also investigated activities by non-human entities which include alien abductions. But I never expected that my investigation on Dezrin's plight would take me to apparent non-human interference at the Ottawa courthouse through judges working in tandem with Ottawa lawyers John E. Summers and Jeremy Wright of the City of Ottawa.



It is apparent that Jeremy Wright is an apparent ring leader of University of Ottawa psychopaths somehow recruited to perpetuate demonic torture against Dezrin.



Jeremy Wright in his official capacity works to defend Bordeleau's rag tag gang of dirty cops who sought to block Raymond getting help of his Mom for more than three years.



In one instance, when a Small Claims Court judge was just about to enable Raymond to see his Mom, Mr Wright gave some weird "wink" at a Judge sending him into an immediate panic leading him to immediately reverse his inclination to assist Raymond in helping his Mom. Mr Wright is a highly secretive lawyer embedded into the City of Ottawa as an apparent handler for a University of Ottawa "rogue group".



It's notable that while one set of judges at the Ottawa courthouse would seek to liberate Dezrin Carby-Samuels from the profound abuse and torture that she has been experiencing at the hand of her husband, the "rogue group" would seek to perpetuate it.



The rogue group are all members of the University of Ottawa alumni community. This group was reinforced by an apparent dirty cop named Detective Robert Griffin and a lawyer named John E Summers who is the alleged lawyer for Dezrin's husband against Dezrin's son.



Funny thing is that Dezrin husband can in no way afford Mr. Summers. When Raymond asked Mr Summers who he ACTUALLY works for and pays his bills, he refused to say.



There is absolutely a zero chance that Dezrin's retired husband who struggles to pay his biills when he's not abusing Dezrin with the help of others could afford the legal services of John Summers who has worked to perpetuate his abuse for more than three years at a pay rate of more than $300 per hour having been practicing law since 1999.



We therefore have 100% conclusive evidence that someone or more likely a "group" without any empathy for the plight of Dezrin in conditions of abuse is paying a University of Ottawa trained lawyer who is getting the support of judges and others ALL directly affiliated with the University of Ottawa.



I don't believe in such coincidences.



But every time Dezrin was about to be liberated, another set of judges who simply ignore all the evidence and case law that Raymond presented.



Finally, one Judge named Sylvia Corthon decided that she was going to "seize" the case, and declared not only Summary Judgement against Raymond, but also declared him to be a Vexatious Litigant.



It became apparent that Sylvia Corthorn had "seized the case" to prevent another judge who is not a member of an apparent University of Ottawa demon worshiping group from trying to again help Dezrin.



You see, Raymond who is Dezrin's son has sought to liberate his Mother from abuse as any loving and responsible son would want to do.



One of my favourite shows is Murdoch Mysteries like so many other Canadians. One of my favourite part of Murdoch Mysteries is when Detective Murdoch connects criminal suspects with each other by tying a common association with each other using a blackboard in his constabulary office.



Thinking of the Detective Murdoch character I decided that I was going to try the same technique to figure out an apparent bizarre pattern taking place against Dezrin Carby-Samuels.



However, I didn't expect to find anything though this exercise. But to my amazment I did.



All three Judges at the Ottawa courthouse that have apparently worked to Ottawa lawyer John E Summers to perpetuate abuses against Dezrin are all University of Ottawa alumni.



These judges are Justice Pierre Roger, Justice Sylvia Corthorn and Regional Senior Justice James MacNamara.



None of the three judges at the Ottawa courthouse who had sought to act fairly and support the liberation of Dezrin are connected with the University of Ottawa.



The judges who acted to spare Dezrin are Justice Patrick Smith, Justice Callum MacLoed and Justice Robert Beaudoin.



I have provided screenshot proof of an apparent coordinated pattern of bizarre judicial decisions by the University of Ottawa alumni at the Ottawa courthouse.



It is apparent that there's a very distinct pattern of psychopath behaviours by three judges at the Ottawa courthouse with shared ties to the University of Ottawa that is extremely distinct from the behaviours of judges who aren't connected with the University of Ottawa. My screenshot shows the distinctive affiliations of legal "actors" in this matter.



Coincidence? I think not.



I then took my "theory" that there's "fifth" column of Judges who are seeking to subvert civil and human rights in resistance to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to different Faculties of Law across Canada to get their reaction. Only the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law members were hostile to the notion. It was almost as if they were hypersensitive based upon their own complicit behaviour.



Could in fact the University of Ottawa be home to psychopaths who refuse to let go of their on-going abuse and torture against Dezrin Carby-Samuels?



Are we witnessing a human sacrifice ritual that has sought to seize and perpetuate Dezrin's abuse?



Is Dezrin one of possibly many people who have been subjugated to abuse in Ottawa as a result of a "human sacrifice ritual"?



And guess where John E Summers attended law school? You would be right if you said the University of Ottawa.



I then became more intrigued. I then looked up Ottawa's Chief of Police Charles Bordeleau's background whose Office supported the dirty cop that forcibly separated Raymond from his Mother.



Once again we have a perfect match. Bordeleau also graduated from the University of Ottawa and received an award from the Tefler School of Management (screenshot attached).



After Bordeleau's dirty cop orchestrated Raymond's forcible separation from his Mother that has suffering from profound domestic abuse, Dezrin lost the ability to walk, talk or write.



After months of unlawfully being prevented from seeing his Mother, Raymond filed an Emergency Motion at the Ottawa courthouse in December 2015.



Raymond appeared before University of Ottawa Faculty of Law graduate Justice Pierre Roger.



At first, Justice Roger was going to grant Raymond's request seeing as he began to say "no harm in it".



But that's when things began to get really bizarre. Someone from judge's chambers interrupted Judge Roger's deliberation.



When Justice Roger came out of this "meeting" he was a different person, declaring the matter "personal to him" and that he would say "no" to Raymond seeing his Mom and checking on her well-being.



Raymond persevered and eventually got a Default Judgement from Justice Patrick Smith who has no affiliation with the University of Ottawa.



Justice Patrick Smith who is a member of the Lakehead University community granted Raymond's request through an order dated 11 February 2016.



But shortly after, John E Summers who was a top graduate of the University of Ottawa entered the picture. He began to manufacture and support countless obvious lies to justify continued forcible separation.



Raymond and his Mother last saw each other on 12 June 2016.



John E Summers lies are easily transparent to any fair minded judge. So, John E Summers needed "help" if he was going to perpetuate Dezrin's abuse.



John E Summers got that help when he and Raymond appeared in front of Regional Senior Justice James MacNamara who threw out Justice Patrick Smith's Order to enable Raymond and his Mother to see each other, on a daily basis, so Raymond could ensure his Mother's care as she has wanted



Raymond tried to appeal that decision. But that appeal was then intercepted by an angry Justice Roger who declared his interception to be a "coincidence".



I don't believe in such coincidences. It was quite improper for Roger to "coincidently" get the file. He should have recused himself. But, instead, Justice Roger "fined" Raymond $1500 for his Appeal.



When the matter was referred to Justice Callum Macloed, he was quite concerned about Dezrin's well being and directed John E Summers on 24 March 2017 to obtain independent verification to ensure Dezrin has not been held a prisoner against her wishes. On our "Murdoch blackboard" Justice Macloed is a graduate of Queens in Kingston, Ontario with no U of O affiliations.



John E Summers then sought to get the matter thrown out of Court. But his request was blocked by Justice Robert Beaudoin whose ties are with the University of Windsor Faculty of Law.



Then all of a sudden after this decision by Justice Beaudoin, the matter was then "seized" by Justice Sylvia Corthorn who like John E Summers, Justice Roger, Regional Justice McNamara and Ottawa Police Chief Charles Bordaleau are all University of Ottawa alumni.



Justice Sylvia Corthorn not only totally ignored all evidence and case law presented by Raymond but also ignored any support for Raymond articulated by non-University of Ottawa Judges.



When Justice Beaudoin recognized her apparent judicial misconduct by granting Raymond's request to have her recused from the trial, Justice Corthorn simply sped up her final rulings which were directed at preventing Raymond from his efforts to rescue his Mother from the "Hell of Earth" that she has lived for more than three years thanks to an apparent "University of Ottawa mafia" which has sought to perpetuate the abuse and torture of Dezrin Carby-Samuels.
The US State Department approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to Canada of three King Air 350ER (extended range) aircraft with customer unique post-modifications for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) operations for an estimated cost of $300 million, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced on October 4, 2018.

Beechcraft King Air 350ER aircraft

(Credit: Beechcraft)

Canada has requested to buy three King Air 350ER aircraft with customer unique post-modifications for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) operations; three WESCAM MX-15D Electro-Optical & Infrared Imaging Sensors; three AN/AAR-47B(V)2 Missile and Laser Warning System (MWS); three AN/ALE-47 Countermeasure Dispenser Systems (CMDS); three VORTEX Dual RF Ku LOS Transceivers; three COMSEC Modules (KGV-135A); two APM-424(V)5 Transponder Test Sets; five KIV-77 Mode 4/5 crypto applique computers for IFF; three AN/APX-119 IFF Digital Civil and Military Transponders; six ARC-210 Multi-mode Voice and Data Transceivers; three KG-250X NSA-Certified Type 1 Inline Network Encryptors (INE); technical data; mission equipment, communication and navigation equipment, special tools and test equipment, ground support equipment, airframe and engine spare parts, publications, MWO/ECPs, technical assistance, repair and return, training; and transportation of aircraft, and other related elements of logistics and program support.

This proposed sale will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by helping to improve the military capability of Canada, a NATO ally that is an important force for ensuring political stability and economic progress and a contributor to military, peacekeeping and humanitarian operations around the world, the DSCA said.

The principal contractor will be Beechcraft (Textron Aviation), Wichita, Kansas.

The Beechcraft King Air 350ER Medium Turbo-prop is manufactured by Beechcraft Corp. between 2008 and 2009. It is a standard extended-range (ER) airplane, which includes additional fuel capacity and increased capability landing gear allowing for 2,500 nautical mile range and take-off weight of 16,500 lbs.
Three B-2 Spirits and approximately 200 Airmen from the US Air Force completed their first deployment to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, in support of the U.S. Strategic Commands Bomber Task Force deployment, Aug. 15 through Sept. 27, 2018.

A B-2 Spirit deployed from Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, in support of the U.S. Strategic Commands Bomber Task Force deployment is parked on the flightline Sept. 26, 2018

(Credit: U.S. Air Force/Staff Sgt. Danielle Quilla)



Although bombers regularly rotate throughout the Indo-Pacific, this marked the first deployment of B-2 Spirits to JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam.



"The B-2 Spirits' first deployment to (Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam) highlights its strategic flexibility to project power from anywhere in the world," said Maj. Gen. Stephen Williams, director of air and cyberspace operations, Headquarters Pacific Air Forces. "The B-2s conducted routine air operations and integrated capabilities with key regional partners, which helped ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific. The U.S. routinely and visibly demonstrates commitment to our allies and partners through global employment and integration of our military forces."



Despite the deployment taking place in the middle of hurricane season, the B-2 pilots accomplished hundreds of local and long-duration sorties and regional training. Each mission focused on displaying the bombers flexible global-strike capability and the United States' commitment to supporting global security.



One of the key integrations involved the B-2s and F-22 Raptors assigned to the 199th Fighter Squadron, a unit of the 154th Wing under the Hawaii Air National Guard. Like the B-2, the F-22 is virtually invisible to threats. This makes them the perfect match for escorting the stealth bomber and providing situational awareness. The training helped polish the cohesion between the pilots.



The Bomber Task Force is a total-force integration deployment, said Lt. Col. Nicholas Adcock, Air Force Global Strike 393rd Bomber Squadron commander. Our active-duty and guard members worked seamlessly together with their counterparts here in Hawaii to determine the best way for the B-2 to operate from this location in the future.



The 154th Wing also supported the B-2 with the 203rd Air Refueling Squadrons KC-135 Stratotankers. Although the B-2 is capable of flying approximately 6,000 miles without refueling, the KC-135s provided aerial refueling for long-duration missions.



The training with the Hawaii Air National Guard was invaluable, Adcock said. Together we refined and exercised multiple tactics that are crucial to the Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility.



In addition to air operations, the deployment also focused on hot-pit refueling. During this technique, the pilots land and continue to run the B-2s engines while fuels distribution technicians refuel the aircraft. The pilots are immediately able to take off again with a full tank and maximize the amount of time they are in the air versus on the ground. One B-2 conducted hot-pit refueling at Wake Island, a coral limestone atoll in the mid-Pacific, west of Honolulu, Sept. 14.



Finally, weapons load crews exercised loading BDU-50s, inert 500 pound non-explosive practice bombs, into B-2 bomb bays on the JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam flightline.



This weapons load is the first stepping stone to loading live munitions from this location, said Master Sgt. Nicholas Lewis, 393rd Aircraft Maintenance Unit weapons section chief. Furthermore, it provides pilots and load crews valuable training necessary to accomplish future BTF missions.



From air to ground support, the first Bomber Task Force deployment to Hawaii has allowed each member to determine what it would take to operate the B-2 from JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam and execute strategic deterrence, global strike and combat support at any time.



I am very proud of every Airman that was a member of the 393rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, Adcock said. We flew to a forward operating location that the B-2 had never operated out of and overcame numerous challenges.





(Source: Staff Sgt. Danielle Quilla, 509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs)
Chip Skinner has always kept an eye on the Weiss property.

The land stretches between 43rd Street and Route 441, right next to his neighborhood, the city of Gainesville spokesperson said.

His neighborhood already receives runoff during heavy rains, but Skinner and his homeowners association were aware that any residential development on the nearby property could worsen the situation.

On Sept. 24, Skinner and his neighbors were able to let their worries go. Together with the Alachua Conservation Trust, Gainesville bought the Weiss property, now known as Four Creeks Preserve, as conservation land, Skinner said.

The land acquisition collectively cost more than $4 million, with Gainesville paying $1.5 million, Skinner said. The citys contribution came from its tree mitigation fund, which developers pay into when they remove trees during projects.

Were a nature-oriented community, Skinner said. Its important that the city participates in saving these tracks of land.

The recent acquisition comes after almost 15 years of different agencies pursuing the property, said Tom Kay, the executive director the Alachua Conservation Trust. The headwaters of four creeks  Blues, Hogtown, Turkey and Possum  lay within the 715 acres of the aptly named Four Creeks Preserve.

The first word that comes to mind is relief, Kay said. This is one of those projects where there was tremendous community support for seeing it conserved. It was really important to try to conserve the headwaters of that many creeks that flow through Gainesville.

Not only will conserving the property protect the water system and create a buffer zone in cases of surging waters and flooding during storms, but it could also create a wildlife corridor for the animals already present, Kay said.

Although discussions with the land owner, Arthur Weiss, and his representative started before the Wild Spaces and Public Places tax was passed, the acquisition was not possible until those funds began to roll in, Kay said. The funding from the half-cent sales tax, which goes toward acquiring conservation land and improving parks in Alachua County, provided the $2.8 million the Alachua Conservation Trust contributed to the purchase of the preserve.

It was a pretty big first victory for Wild Spaces and Public Places, Kay said.

Ownership of Four Creeks Preserve is split between the county and Gainesville according to the percentage that each paid for the property, Kay said. The county plans to conduct restoration of the land to make runoff less likely.

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now

There are also possible plans to develop trails for walking, biking and hiking and to place picnic tables and park benches on the land for the community to enjoy, he said.

On Dec. 3, the conservation trust and Alachua County plan to close another deal on Serenola Forest for more than $3 million. The land, a mile north of Paynes Prairie, may be used for environmental education, Kay said.

These land purchases are an effort by local officials to surround the county with conservation land, Kay said.

The community wanted to see that place protected, he said. Its a part of creating this green belt around Alachua County.

Contact Jessica Curbelo at jcurbelo@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @jesscurbelo

The 715 acres of conservation land sprawls between Route 441 and County Road 232. The City of Gainesville and Alachua Conservation Trust joined efforts to purchase the land for over $4 million.
Hunched over her bed, still exhausted from labor, Javiera Rudolph graded papers at 2 a.m. awaiting her newborn to wake up again at any minute.

Moments ago, she had nursed her son, Julian, born only two days before. Yet the new mother kept grading papers, flooded with anxiety, stress and adrenaline.

She had grown accustomed to her late night schedule over the last eight months, though. She worked until midnight most nights until she had no energy and crashed, only getting a few hours of sleep.

Rudolph, 27, could not afford to take the six weeks of unpaid maternity leave she was allowed because as a UF biology graduate senior she is already tight on money, she said. In Chile, her home country, mothers are given a non-negotiable six months of paid maternity leave, she said.

Student-moms at UF feel a lack of support from the university, Rudolph said. Without Gator Moms, a student-government funded organization created to support students with families, many of these women would not have a place to turn to for understanding.

Rudolph is one of 531 graduate females and 420 undergraduate females who juggle student and parental responsibilities, according to UF Office for Student Financial Affairs 2016-2017 data. Graduate students at UF currently do not receive paid maternity leave while some of UFs peers, such as the University of Michigan and University of California Los Angeles, do offer paid leave.

Courtesy to The Alligator Graduate senior Javiera Rudolph 27, has juggled student-mom responsibilities for the last eight months. Even though she planned her pregnancy, she said no mom will ever be as prepared as they think.

Tineka Benjamin, a 19-year-old single mom, uttered in between chuckles that it is not easy to bring her 11-month-old son to campus. Despite those who say how perfectly fine it should be, Benjamin said.

The UF computer science sophomore felt uncomfortable by other students gawking faces when her son, Princeton, toddled around and made loud noises at a student organization meeting, she said. So much so that she left early.

The loneliness she felt then is common for student-moms like herself, she said. Her one close friend is also a student-mom because non-parents cannot relate to her life.

Benjamin works 20 hours a week in the Information Technology Department and is the vice president of Gator Moms.

Support is the most important thing that student-moms need and is lacking at UF, Benjamin said, even with the club. When she first went to a Ph.D. Moms meeting, now renamed Gator Moms, she was told it may not be the right group for her as an undergraduate student.

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now

There were no other groups for students with families, she said.

They say they (UF) have resources, but the resources are like the butterfly museum, she said. Like actual help, actual resources. Thats something that Id like to see, but its so far from reality.

At 3 months old, Princeton became sick with the flu. When he recovered, the daycare Benjamin originally planned to enroll him in unexpectedly gave his spot away, she said. To take care of him, she missed a month of class and had to withdraw from the Spring semester.

She can see herself falling back into that pattern. Every time she walks into an exam unprepared, it is because she has not had time to study, she said.

Financially, emotionally, physically, I am so tired, Benjamin said. Im hanging on by a thread, hoping that I keep it together this semester.

Katie Tanner, the UMatter, We Care associate director for student success, said a medical withdrawal is one of the most important resources for students with pregnancy-related issues. It provides tuition reimbursement and flexibility in retaking failed courses.

There is a lack of conversation on campus about ways to support non-traditional students, Tanner said.

The Care Team can help student-moms who need to communicate with professors about missing class, assignments and exams. But many students are not aware they exist to help with that, Tanner said.

I think right now UF is really catered toward kind of typical age students, not necessarily considering there are students who have families or have children, Tanner said.

Tanner said the university could improve resources for student-moms by offering easier access to child care and more online or night classes.

Rudolph, the current Gator Moms President, said faculty and advisers in the biology department supported her by extending exam deadlines by a year and allowed her to do teachers assistant work online.

Daycare is another resource that needs to be improved for student-moms on campus, Rudolph said. They would benefit from a part-time daycare on campus so that they could drop their children off before classes rather than paying for a full-time daycare.

The reason Baby Gator started was to help out student-parents, Rudolph said. And it slowly transitioned into more of a business kind of thing. And they keep adding more and more professors because they can charge them more and make ends meet that way.

Kirsten Hecht, 36, echoed Rudolphs experience with Baby Gator. The waitlist for enrollment in the daycare could take up to a year, she said.

Baby Gator began as a student-parent co-operative program, Hecht said. But now, they pay the university to be on campus, she said.

Even with a student discount, the daycare costs $800 a month along with hundreds of dollars in annual fees and application fees, she said.

Courtesy to The Alligator Kirsten Hecht, 36, said she brings her son (bottom right) to as many UF events as possible. The former PhD Moms President and Dmitry, 9, live in the Cory Village family housing apartments on campus.

When Hecht attended a research seminar at Ohio State University, a professor told her she would have to choose between having a family and being a researcher someday. It never dawned on the then 20-year-old that she may have to sacrifice her personal life for the career she had wanted.

I definitely remember zoning out after because I was shocked, she said. I didnt want to have to make that kind of decision. Id never heard someone tell me that before.

Now, Hecht is both a UF doctoral interdisciplinary ecology student and mom to 9-year-old Dmitry Kardasz. This outlook on moms in science is slowly changing, Hecht said, but theres still a long way to go.

I applaud their efforts, but I also think sometimes its not enough to really help, she said. UF has no idea how many of us there are. They dont keep track.

Hecht said after she got pregnant unexpectedly while completing her masters degree, the social isolation she felt was the biggest hurdle. If Gator Moms did not exist, she said student-moms would not have any group of peers to seek support from.

You can be a great scientist or whatever you are training for and still have a life, she said. Now theres a whole generation of women who came before us opening the door for us.

Student-moms are often more worried about their academic careers and how they will be perceived by their peers, Hecht said. Becoming a mom often makes women feel that they cannot do their jobs successfully.

Sometimes it feels like youre constantly being looked at like you have to prove that you can be a parent and still do this, she said. We just dont exist on campus. Were nameless and faceless.

Contact Angela DiMichele at adimichele@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @angdimi

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect the correct spelling of Kirsten Hecht's last name. Her last name is Hecht, not Hechtbender.

Tineka Benjamin, 19, said she and 8-month-old Princeton enjoy watching movies together and playing outside in the park. The computer science sophomore had her son during her first year at UF.
As Libbie Johnson drove along Cantonment, Florida roads, she saw the dust from peanut farmers floating in the air.

Seeing the panhandle farmers inspired Johnson, the agricultural agent for UFs Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences in Escambia County, to co-organize a peanut butter challenge in collaboration with the Florida Peanut Producers Association, which began Monday.

The challenge, organized by the UF/IFAS Northwest Extension District, donates peanut butter to hungry families, Johnson wrote in an email. The project helps those who are food insecure and supports local farmers.

Food pantries look forward to us coming in December to replenish their peanut butter stores, Johnson said.

Though the challenge started in 2012, this year the county added a new drop-off location and expanded to another participating church. Johnson said they have been working to expand the challenge so more Floridians become aware that peanuts are a local crop.

The goal is to donate 10,000 pounds of peanut butter across northwest Florida, she said. In 2017, the district collected 8,910 pounds of peanut butter, not including the match from local peanut producers, which can bring the total to more than 20,000 pounds, she said.

Rodney Helton, a local Escambia County peanut farmer, spends this time of year harvesting and enjoys participating in the challenge, he said.

Ive actually been on the deliveries, everybody is excited, Helton said. They come running, its amazing how appreciative they are.

UFs Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences collected peanut butter set for donation in the northwest Florida district in 2017. That year, 8,910 pounds of peanut butter were donated.

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now
Lara Alqasem prepared to start a new semester in Israel.

Her plans, however, were put to a halt when she was detained and threatened with deportation at the Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, her former co-worker Grace Chun, 22, said.

Alqasem graduated from UF in May with a bachelors degree in international studies and Arabic and was accepted into a masters program at Hebrew University of Jerusalem with a scholarship, Chun, a 2018 UF psychology graduate, said. Two months before Alqasem went to Israel, she applied for a student visa at the Consulate General of Israel in Miami.

The Consulate General confirmed the visa was issued in Miami, according to the Miami Herald. Lior Haiat, the consul general of Israel in Miami, said once the Israeli government knew Alqasem, 22, was involved in anti-Israel (and anti-Semitic) activities, she was denied entry. The statement said the government found it ironic she wanted to boycott the country she wishes to study in.

Alqasem was the president of the UF Students for Justice in Palestine and participated in nonviolent protests of Israeli companies in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS), said Cody ORourke, the communications director for Holy Land Trust.

I think first and foremost, her rootedness in being here is about finding a way to talk about justice that makes sense for both Israelis and Palestinians, ORourke said.

Chun said she wasnt surprised Alqasem was detained. Alqasem visited Israel before and had previously been detained, but was never threatened to be deported, Chun said.

As a UF graduate with Palestinian descent, Alqasem is outspoken about her thoughts on the Israeli governments oppression towards Palestinians, Chun said.

Chun was able to contact Alqasem through WhatsApp where Alqasem told Chun she appealed the governments decision to deport her, got access to a lawyer and had a hearing with a judge who sided with her.

Regardless, she will be detained until Sunday morning in Israel until she hears back from the Minister of Interior, an official who plans and implements national policy.

Even if the minister sides with Alqasem, the decision could be appealed by the Israeli government, Chun said.

Im not quite sure exactly what will happen, Chun said.

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now

UF to Israel, an Israeli student group, said it was aware of Alqasems situation, but declined to comment because it involves foreign policy.

Caroline Gillis, a former classmate of Alqasem, knew Alqasem would fight to study at the university.

She is not violent or hateful towards anyone and does not carry anti-Semitic feelings, Gillis, a 2016 UF Middle Eastern studies graduate said.

Whether or not she stays in Israel, I just want her to be safe, she said.

Contact Dana Cassidy at dcassidy@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @danacassidy_
After being detained in Israel since Tuesday, UF alumna Lara Alqasem will be deported.

Alqasems initial appeal to a judge to be allowed entry into Israel was denied, the Consul General of Israel to Florida Lior Haiat said. Alqasem appealed again and the judge will make a decision today. Alqasem was held at the airport on her way into the country to study for allegedly participating in nonviolent protests of Israeli companies.

The results of Alqasems second appeal were published at 9 a.m. Israeli time, which was 2 a.m. in Gainesville, Haiat said.

She was already heard at the local court and is now appealing to a regional one. The next step would be the national court, however, Haiat said its unlikely for someone to be heard by the national court unless the matter is urgent or would result in an irreversible decision.

After the hearing with the judge, its only a matter of time before Alqasem boards a flight out of Israel, he said.

Two months before Alqasem went to Israel, she applied for a student visa at the Consulate General of Israel in Miami. Although Alqasem got a visa from the Consulate General office, once the Israeli government realized Alqasem was previously involved in an activity that is banned in Israel, the boycott, divest and sanctions movement, they denied her entry, Haiat said. The visa was initially issued because of a letter from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which Haiat said is standard.

Alqasem, 22, was offered a flight back to Miami paid for by the Israeli government after her first appeal was denied, but she refused, Haiat said.

Alqasem graduated from UF in May with bachelors degrees in international studies and Arabic and was accepted into a masters program at the university with a scholarship, said Grace Chun, a 22-year-old 2018 UF psychology alumna and former co-worker of Alqasems.

The situation is horrible and unfair, Alqasems friend and 22-year-old UF international studies senior William Christou said.

Its always been her dream to be in a program like this, Christou said. Shes always been passionate about Israel, Palestine and helping solve the issue.

Alqasem is not actively engaged in any BDS movement and only wants to go to Israel to study, Christou said.

She was going to Israel to further her education and help make the world a better place, and she was put through a pretty harrowing situation, Christou said.

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now

A person can disagree with the values of the Israeli government, Haiat said, but the decision was made because Alqasem was allegedly involved with BDS, a movement that is considered anti-semitic in Israel.

It makes it ironic that she supports BDS, but wants to study in the university and country she boycotts, Haiat said.

Since 2017, involvement in the BDS movement will cause someone to be kept from the country, Haiat said. He said it seemed like Alqasem wanted to promote BDS during her time in Israel.

It wasnt just an innocent student going to study in Israel, Haiat said.

Prior to entering the country, Alqasem deleted all her social media, Haiat said. When questioned by the judge about it, Alqasem allegedly did not explain why.

Haiat said Alqasem was not deprived of food or water throughout her detainment and has had access to her lawyer.

Despite the outcome of her second appeal, Alqasem will leave the country, Haiat said.

She will be deported, Haiat said. The question is when.

Contact Dana Cassidy at dcassidy@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @danacassidy_

Lara Alqasem, a member of the Radical Students Alliance and then-UF political science sophomore, speaks during a candlelight vigil in support of refugees in 2015. You only leave home when home is the mouth of a shark, she said. No one puts their children on boats unless the boat is safer than the land.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, October 5)  Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Friday said he might quit his post as it seemed he has not been up-to-date with some of the President's affairs.

"I am inclined to believe that perhaps I am not in the position to continue with this current function," Roque said during a Malacanang media briefing, where he tried to leave without entertaining reporters' questions.

When he returned to the podium, his surprise statement prompted questions on whether he is stepping down as President Rodrigo Duterte's spokesperson.

"As you can see I cannot be effective as a spokesperson unless I know everything about the President. Now people think I lied. I'm telling the nation I did not. I did not know," Roque said.

During a briefing Thursday afternoon, Roque said he had no personal knowledge that the President was hospitalized on Wednesday, that's why he skipped an event in Malacanang. He said Duterte just took the day off and that the 73-year-old President's health was "fine."

READ: Roque 'tired' of questions on Duterte's health

But during a speech that night, Duterte himself confirmed he had a one-hour visit to the Cardinal Santos Medical Center last Wednesday. He also said he had undergone colonoscopy, an examination of the colon, and endoscopy, a procedure to check the digestive system.

Duterte even said, "I will tell you if it's cancer, it's cancer. And if it's third stage, no more treatment. I will not prolong my agony in this office or anywhere."

Roque admitted he too was "taken aback" by the President's revelation, again assuring the public he did not lie.

Roque to spend the weekend to think

Roque's possible resignation also comes after Duterte discouraged him from running in the 2019 senatorial elections. "Bigyan kita ibang trabaho. Hindi ka manalo diyan (I'll give you another job. You won't win there)," Duterte said Thursday night, alluding to Roque.

Roque said these words were "typical Duterte" and only means the President prefers that he stay as his spokesperson.

He said the President offered him a position "similar to what he is doing right now" but that the post does not exist yet.

Roque said he will spend the weekend thinking about his options. He said the fact that he "was in the dark" about the President's health was "an objective sign that I am looking for" when it comes to quitting the government.

He said he had no hard feelings against the President.

Duterte's health

If he decides to stay, Roque said he would ask the President to finally clear the air about the state of his health.

"If I'm still here next week then I will tell him perhaps we would need to issue a medical bulletin whether or not it's serious. Perhaps we would need to bring in your physician because it's the only way to stop all talk about your health," he said.

But he added the President's constitutional obligation is to disclose the state of his health only in case of serious illness.

Roque revealed doctors asked Duterte to undergo endoscopy after detecting a "growth," which he did not elaborate. "He had a general exam and after which I suppose they wanted a more specific exam, zeroing in on something," he said.

Critics have being calling for transparency regarding the President's health - possibly through disclosing medical records or a regular medical bulletin - after Duterte himself admitted to having several medical conditions. In his previous speeches he said he suffered migraines, nausea, pain due to a spinal injury, Buerger's disease or a disorder affecting blood vessels, and Barrett's esophagus or a complication which causes heartburn or acid indigestion.

The Constitution states, "In case of serious illness of the President, the public shall be informed of the state of his health."
Posted on: October 5, 2018 3:23 PM

A Roman Catholic bishop and his Anglican counterpart have been inspired by an official international ecumenical mission partnership to create a joint project to address development needs of children living in poverty. In October 2016, the Archbishop of Canterbury and Pope Francis jointly commissioned and sent out 19 pairs of Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops to do joint mission across the world. The Roman Catholic Bishop of Saint John, Robert Harris, and the Anglican Bishop of Fredericton, David Edwards, were not part of that initiative; but inspired by it the two bishop  whose dioceses overlap  have signed a joint declaration to launch a child development programme.

The project, Dads & Tots, will work with single fathers from the Waterloo Village and South End neighbourhoods of Saint John, a port city in Canadas New Brunswick province. The project will enable mentoring relationships with experienced fathers who can teach them parenting skills and facilitate weekly relationship building sessions whereby the fathers can interact with their children in a controlled literacy- and play-based environment.

The project follows the formation last year of a Saint John IARCCUM Group between the two dioceses. Dads & Tots has now begun as a six week pilot ahead of its permanent launch in January. It is being run by a specialist in early childhood intervention and will use facilities and equipment donated by the two dioceses.

It is the second initiative to be launched in direct response to the Common Declaration issued by Pope Francis and Archbishop Justin Welby at San Gregorio al Celio in Rome in October 2016 to mark the 50th anniversary of the first official meeting since the Reformation between a Pope and an Archbishop of Canterbury. The first, launched in September 2017, was the St Timothy Scholarship Programme in Malawi.

Both projects have been endorsed by the International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission (IARCCUM), an official international mission partnership between the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.

I am delighted that the second IARCCUM project to be launched in direct response to the Common Declaration issued at San Gregorio should be initiated here in Canada and seek to address the effects of urban poverty, which is a blight on our modern society, the Catholic Co-Chair of IARCCUM, Archbishop Donald Bolen, of Regina in Saskatchewan, said.

The Anglican Co-Chair, Bishop David Hamid from the Church of Englands Diocese in Europe, added: We hope that the Saint John project, following on the heels of the highly successful scholarship programme in Malawi, will inspire Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops around the world to initiate their own joint outreach projects in response to the call from San Gregorio.

The Declaration was signed on Monday (1 October) at St Johns Anglican Church in Saint John.
(ANSA) - Rome, October 5 - Deputy Premier and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini on Friday blasted European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici after they criticised the Italian government's budget plans. "The EU said yes to (past) budgets that impoverished Italy and made its situation precarious," Salvini told a fair staged by agriculture association Coldiretti in Rome. "So I don't get up in the morning thinking about the judgement that people like Juncker and Moscovici, who have ruined Europe and Italy, have of the government and of Italy.

"They can say what they want. We'll keep going straight on with peace of mind".


Israel: police question Netanyahu for 12th time Investigators focus on two cases

(ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, OCTOBER 5 - Israeli police on Friday questioned for the 12th time Premier Benyamin Netanyahu at his residence. Investigators questioned Netanyahu on two cases. The first concerns the entity of presents he received from a wealthy businessman (with whom he was friends) and the second, an attempt to reach an agreement with the newspaper Yediot Ahronot (which failed) for a more positive coverage of the premier's activities in exchange for material favors. According to press reports, Netanyahu is suspected of corruption, fraud and abuse of office.



Meanwhile, Maariv reported, a trial will start in Jerusalem against the premier's wife, Sarah Netanyahu, who is accused of irregularities in funding for meals offered to the premier's guests at their official residence. Sarah Netanyahu claims she always abided by official expenditure rules of the prime minister. (ANSAmed)
ANSAmed - Today's events in the Mediterranean

(ANSAmed) - ROME, OCTOBER 5 - These are the main events scheduled in the Euro-Mediterranean area for today: FERRARA - XII International Journalism Festival, sponsored by Italian newsweekly Internazionale (until 7/10).



BRUSSELS - EU, informal meeting of trade ministers. MAZARA DEL VALLO - The 7th edition of Blue Sea Land, the expo of agro-fishery clusters of the Mediterranean, Africa and the Middle East, continues (until 7/10).



TIRANA - EU, visit of European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Vera Jourova.



ROME - The exhibition 'The poetics between abstraction and figuration', contemporary art in Madrid in the post-war years, continues at the Cervantes Institute (until January 12).



MADRID - The exhibition 'The Map and the Territory' begins at the Reina Sofia Museum, the first monographic exhibition in Spain dedicated to Luigi Ghirri's photographs (until January 7 2019).



ABU DHABI - The exhibition 'Japanese Connections: the Birth of Modern Decor', continues at the Louvre in Abu Dhabi and includes a series of paintings and etchings from the XIX and XX centuries that highlight the dialogue between the East and the West (until November 24).(ANSAmed).




ANSAmed - Weekly diary from October 8 to October 14

(ANSA) - ROMA, OCTOBER 5 - Weekly diary of the main events scheduled in the Euro-Mediterranean area from October 8 to October 14: MONDAY, OCTOBER 8 BRUSSELS - EU, visit by Italian Lower House Speaker Roberto Fico, who will meet with EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Muscovici BARCELONA - Regional forum of the Union for the Mediterranean, with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini LISBON - EU, visit by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini, who will meet Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa (also 9/10).



TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9 LYON - EU, meeting of G6 interior ministers, with EU Commissioners Dimitris Avramopoulos and Julian King LISBON - Union for the Mediterranean conference "Women Who Build Inclusive Societies in the Mediterranean" (until 11/10).



WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10 ROME - Palazzo Chigi, presentation of report on immigration titled "Prospects of Integration in an Ageing Italy", curated by the Leone Moressa Foundation.



ROME - Senate, Terre des Hommes presents InDifesa campaign "The Conditino of Women and Children in the World" on child crime victims in 2017 TUNIS - 'Villes ouvertes', launch seminar for Futur Proche project on local development and decentralised services for sustainable growth.



THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11 BRUSSELS - EU, High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini receives Ghassan Salame, special envoy and head of UN Support Mission in Libya PALERMO - Sabir, festival of Mediterranean cultures (until 14/10).



FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12 BRUSSELS - EU, High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini receives Louise Arbor, UN special representative for international migration VENICE - EU, Aspen Seminar for Leaders 2018, with EU Commissioner Julian King (until 14/10).



CARTHAGE (TUNISIA) - Acropolium hosts the 24th edition of Musical October (until 31/10).



RABAT - Training course of the Institute of Agronomy and Veterinary Medicine (15/10).



MALTA - Meetings on theme "Transfer of Knowledge on the Blue Economy".



SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13 No major events scheduled.



SUNDAY, OCTOBER 14 GENOA - Jewish Culture Day.



(ANSAmed).




(ANSAmed) - TUNIS, OCTOBER 5 - A new Tunisian political party called Houmet Tounes is aimed at putting ethics back at the centre of public action and strengthening the rule of law in Tunisia.



The movement promises to make Tunisia a prosperous, united, democractic and fair country, its president and founder Marouane Bouloudhnine told ANSAmed.



Bouloudhnine, an orthopedic surgeon, said he went into politics for passion and a sense of civic duty, and calls Houmet Tounes a "citizens' movement".



He said the movement's strength lies in the force of Tunisian civil society and in local, participatory democracy, factors which could make Houmet Tounes a preferred choice among the electorate, in particular with those who have been disappointed in the traditional political parties.



Honesty, integrity, and patriotism are core values of the movement, which Bouloudhnine has been working on for over two years, and which is based on a new democratic concept of leadership.



The party will be officially presented to the media on October 23 in Tunis, on the 7th anniversary of the first post-revolution elections in Tunisia.



The presentation will take place during a large press conference scheduled to be broadcast live in Tunisia and abroad, where the movement already has branches.(ANSAmed).


Jobs and immigration at Union for Med Forum in Barcelona Ministers and high representatives of 43 countries at meeting Mo

(ANSAmed) - MADRID, OCTOBER 5 - Ministers and high representatives from 43 member countries of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership will participate on Monday in the annual meeting of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) in Barcelona.



The meeting will look at new strategies for job creation, halting illegal immigration, fighting radicalisation, and promoting regional integration.



Since its beginnings as an inter-governmental organisation and space for dialogue to strengthen cooperation between the 28 partners of the European Union and the 15 countries on the southern shore of the Mediterranean, the UfM has sponsored 51 projects for integration, human development and stability, 34 of which are currently underway, for an overall total of five billion euros. The meeting will be co-presided by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Ayman Safadi, foreign minister of Jordan, which currently holds the rotating UfM presidency.



It will be hosted by Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell and new UfM Secretary-General Nasser Kamel.



Discussions will center on the UfM Road Map for Action, an eight-page document that establishes the organisation's strategic directives, approved at the previous forum.



Concurrent with the UfM's 10th anniversary, which formalised the Barcelona Process, the forum will be an occasion to give a new impulse to dialogue and cooperation in order to overcome the region's challenges, from economic and social development to environmental damage and climate change, energy, migration, terrorism and extremism.



Private-sector efforts in sustainable and inclusive development and its impact in the Euro-Mediterranean area will be a focus of debate, together with best practices in various projects sponsored by the UfM as part of Med4Jobs, an initiative for job creation, with particular attention on young people and women.



Among the various projects sponsored by the UfM is the construction of a desalination plant in Gaza to provide drinking water to about two million Palestinians, which was backed by Israel, a member of the partnership, forum sources said.



Work to build the plant, which has already obtained 80% of its financing from the conference of donors, is scheduled to start in 2019.(ANSAmed).




(CNN)  The United States Permanent Representative to NATO, Amb. Kay Bailey Hutchison, warned Tuesday that the U.S. could "take out" Russian missiles that are perceived to be in violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty should Moscow continue to violate the agreement.

"We have been trying to send a message to Russia for several years that we know they are violating the treaty. We have shown Russia the evidence that we have, that they are violating the treaty," Hutchison said, according to a U.S. NATO mission transcript of a press conference on the sidelines of the NATO Defense Ministerial meeting in Brussels.

"They are building a medium-range ballistic missile in violation of the INF. That is a fact which we have proven," she added.

Asked what type of countermeasures the U.S. and NATO would pursue in the face of the Russian violation, Hutchison said "the countermeasures would be to take out the missiles that are in development by Russia in violation of the treaty."

"Getting them to withdraw would be our choice, of course. But I think the question was what would you do if this continues to a point where we know that they are capable of delivering. And at that point we would then be looking at a capability to take out a missile that could hit any of our countries in Europe and hit America in Alaska," she added.

Later on Tuesday Hutchinson said she "was not talking about preemptively striking Russia" when she said the U.S. would have to "take out" the Russian missiles.

"I was not talking about preemptively striking Russia. My point: (Russia) needs to return to INF Treaty compliance or we will need to match its capabilities to protect U.S. & NATO interests. The current situation, with (Russia) in blatant violation, is untenable," Hutchinson wrote on Twitter.

Prior to Hutchison's tweet Russia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded forcefully, saying Hutchison behaved "aggressively and destructively" by making the comments.

"It seems as if people who make such statements do not realize the level of their responsibility and the danger of such aggressive rhetoric," Zakharova told CNN.

"Who authorized this lady to make such statements? The American people? Do the ordinary people in the USA know what the so-called diplomats, who are getting paid with the money from [ordinary people's] pockets, behave themselves so aggressively and destructively?" Zakharova added.

"It is very easy to break and crush everything. It is hard to repair and restore. U.S. diplomacy will have to do a lot in order to fix the aftermath of their mistakes. As for the essence of the matter, our military experts will give an expanded response," she added.

Earlier on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told CNN the Kremlin "prefers not to pay extra attention to statements by ambassadors while we have too many uncertainties with the messages on the higher level."

The 1987 treaty limits the types of missiles that the U.S. and Russia can deploy.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters Tuesday that NATO remained "concerned about Russia's lack of respect for its international commitments, including the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty."

"After years of denials, Russia recently acknowledged the existence of a new missile system, called 9M729. Russia has not provided any credible answers on this new missile. All Allies agree that the most plausible assessment would be that Russia is in violation of the Treaty," he added.

This story was first published on CNN.com "US threatens to 'take out' Russian missiles if Moscow keeps violating nuclear treaty"
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

An Artesia man was arrested for the second time in three days Tuesday after entering one local home and attempting to enter two others.

At around 2:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, Artesia Police Department officers were dispatched to the 1000 block of West Yucca Avenue in reference to a male individual attempted to enter a home.

Upon arrival, police found the man, identified as Timothy Hoerath, 40, of Artesia, ringing the doorbell and turning the doorknob of a residence. He had previously been seen attempting to use a keypad lock at the home next door.

According to the criminal complaint, Hoerath told police he was attempting to unlock the door for his friend. When asked if he lived in the area, he initially stated he did but later stated he did not.

Police ordered Hoerath to leave the area.

Just after 3 a.m., police were dispatched to the 1500 block of North 10th Street in reference to a breaking and entering.

The reporting party informed police a male individual had entered the home, and police arrived to find Hoerath in the living room. According to the complaint, he had apparently pushed open the front door, which was not damaged, and gotten himself a drink before making his way to the living room.

He was subsequently arrested on charges of criminal trespass and disorderly conduct. On Monday, he was released on his own recognizance but was arrested again Tuesday on charges of probation violation.

Hoerath has been arrested multiple times in the past on similar charges.

On July 18, he was charged with criminal trespass and resisting, evading or obstructing an officer. He was fined $301.

On Aug. 7, 2017, Hoerath was arrested on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, attempt to commit a felony (breaking and entering), and criminal damage to property (under $1,000); those charges were rendered nolle prosequi by the prosecutor.

Hoerath remains incarcerated today with an unknown release date on his warrant charge.

During his arraignment Tuesday on the trespass and disorderly conduct charges, the court filed an order for a competency determination.
In todays Wall Street Journal I review two closely related off-Broadway productions, Bedlams Uncle Romeo Vanya Juliet and the Hunter Theater Projects Uncle Vanya. Heres an excerpt.

* * *

Bedlams Uncle Romeo Vanya Juliet, directed by Eric Tucker, billed as a mash-up of Vanya and Romeo and Juliet and performed by a five-person ensemble, is altogether startling. Ivo van Hove never did anything more radical to a classicexcept that his I-know-better-than-the-author revivals are at all times smotheringly self-regarding, whereas Mr. Tuckers Uncle Romeo Vanya Juliet, like even the most avant-garde of his shows, is both unpretentious and enormous fun.

What Mr. Tucker has done to the two plays out of which Uncle Romeo Vanya Juliet has been cobbled together is easier to enjoy than it is to describe. Bits and pieces of Vanya and Romeo alternate without warning throughout the evening, juxtaposed in a way that is more than a little bit surrealistic

A strong actor who doubles here as a member of his own ensemble, Mr. Tucker always casts his productions with the same imaginative flair that he brings to their staging. That said, hes brought off a coup by casting Zuzanna Szadkowski in the double role of Shakespeares Juliet and Chekhovs Yelena. In a traditional Romeo and Juliet, Ms. Szadkowski would likely have been cast to play Juliets nurse. No doubt shed do it well, too, but what she does here is flat-out astonishing: Her Juliet and Yelena, both of them sardonic and sexually knowing to a breathtaking degree, add up to the most thrilling performance by an actor previously unknown to me that Ive seen on a New York stage since Nina Arianda made her professional debut

No less striking in its purposefully undemonstrative way, though, is the New York premiere of Richard Nelsons adaptation of Uncle Vanya, the auspicious inaugural production of Hunter Colleges new Hunter Theater Project, in which professional productions are to be mounted under the aegis of the schools drama department. This tightened-up version (it runs for 105 intermission-free minutes) is performed in modern dress and modern English (Mr. Nelson, who is also the director, translated the play in collaboration with Richard Pevear and Larissa Vokokhonsky). The goal is to make Vanya more intimate and conversational, with 12 area mikes used to subtly boost the volume

The results are successful in every way, so much so that I can wholeheartedly recommend this production to Chekhov novices and connoisseurs alike. Vanya is, after all, the quintessentially Russian story of a group of people who suddenly realize that theyve frittered away their lives. Such terrible tales are best told in an understated way, and Mr. Nelsons actors hardly ever raise their voices, whether figuratively or literally. Instead, they let you listen in as they watch the sun set on their bleak little world.

* * *

Read the whole thing here.
(CNN)  U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is set to ramp up Washington's criticism of Beijing in a speech Thursday, accusing China of "reckless harassment" of U.S. military forces in the South China Sea, and vowing to improve US relations with Taiwan.

Pence's speech, to be delivered at the Hudson Institute think tank in Washington, comes just days after a Chinese military vessel nearly collided with a U.S. Navy ship in the waters around the disputed Spratly Islands on Sunday.

"Beijing is also trying to project its power farther than ever before," Pence will say, according to excerpts of his speech seen by CNN.

Pence will call attention to an incident on Sunday in which the U.S. said a Chinese naval vessel came within 45 yards (41 meters) of the USS Decatur as it conducted freedom-of-navigation operations in the South China Sea.

Pence will describe the encounter as "reckless harassment," and add that the United States Navy "will continue to fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows and our national interests demand. We will not be intimidated; we will not stand down."

According to the excerpts, Pence will also take a forceful line on Taiwan, the self-ruled island which Beijing has long sought to control, saying that "while our administration will continue to respect our One China Policy... Taiwan's embrace of democracy shows a better path for all the Chinese people."

Under the "One China Policy," Washington officially recognized Beijing and removed its embassy from Taiwan, though it continues to regard the sovereignty status of the island as unresolved.

Pence will condemn efforts by Beijing to pressure allies of Taipei to sever their ties and embrace China, which he will say "threaten the stability of the Taiwan Strait."

Thursday's strident planned speech comes as the trade war between the U.S. and China continues to escalate, and in week after President Donald Trump accused Beijing of meddling in US politics using state-controlled media.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "U.S. Vice President Pence set to inflame China tensions: 'We will not be intimidated'."
She had alleged that the political goons were involved in vandalising her vehicle when she opted out of film, 'Horn Ok Pleassss'.

Mumbai: A defamation case has been filed against Bollywood actor Tanushree Dutta for her comments about Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, police said on Thursday.

The case was filed by the Kaij police in Maharashtra's Beed district on Wednesday evening after MNS district unit president Sumant Dhas lodged a complaint, alleging that Dutta had defamed his party chief, a police officer said.

"We have registered a non-cognisable offence against Dutta under Section 500 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code and are investigating the complaint. We have also asked the complainant to approach court," the officer said.

Dutta, 34, who has accused actor Nana Patekar of harassing her on the sets of a film in 2008, recently said Raj Thackeray wanted to succeed late Bal Thackeray as the Shiv Sena chief, but could not do so.

She had also alleged that the MNS was involved in vandalising her vehicle when she opted out of the 2008 film, 'Horn Ok Pleassss'.

Dutta also alleged that she had been getting threats from the MNS, adding that two persons recently tried to barge into her home.

The MNS youth wing, meanwhile, handed over a letter to the makers of the 'Bigg Boss' on Wednesday, following reports of Dutta participating in the ongoing season of the TV reality show, a party functionary told PTI.

The party workers threatened violence on the set in Lonavla if she was let in.

Maharashtra minister Deepak Kesarkar had backed Patekar on Wednesday, saying he was an "illustrious personality" who has done tremendous work for the state and questioned the veracity of Dutta's claims.
The additional deployment of 250 companies in the three states will done after withdrawing them from other duties and training.

The additional deployment of 250 companies in the three states will done after withdrawing them from other duties and training. ( Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Centre has decided to deploy 25,000 security personnel from the central para-military forces and state police for the coming Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The deployment would be in place by October 15 in the respective States allotted for security duties to the forces.

As many 50 fresh companies of para-military are being deployed each in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan while the maximum of 150 companies are being deployed in the Naxal infested Chhattisgarh in view of the increased threat from them during election process.

Sources claimed that Election Commission is likely to announce the poll schedule in the next few days but security forces have been directed to complete their deployment by Oct 15 and start conducting area domination exercise to ensure smooth conduct of election.

The deployment of 250 companies of Central forces is in addition to the one already involved in anti-Naxal operations and assisting in other law and order duties in the restive poll bound states. Chhattisgarh already has nearly 40 battalions, comprising nearly about 1,000 personnel each of central forces like CRPF, BSF and ITBP to deal with the Naxal violence.

The additional deployment of 250 companies in the three states will done after withdrawing them from other duties and training.

Most of these security personnel are being re-deployed from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana and Gujarat. The forces will be sent back to these states once the election process is completed.

Security personnel being deployed in Chhattisgarh have been specifically asked to carry their own night vision devices, communication equipments like satellite phones, bullet proof jackets, GPS systems and armoured vehicles as far as possible for safety and other requirements.

These instructions have been issued as forces already deployed in Chhattisgarh are already involved in security operations and would not be able to spare their gadgets for the new units being deployed for poll duties.
The stench of corruption and cronyism in the Rafale Deal is nauseating, requiring urgent intervention, the Congress memorandum said.

New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday urged the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India to carry out a forensic audit of the Rs 60,150 crore Rafa-le fighter jet deal and bri-ng all facts on record to enable Parliament to fix accountability for the all-eged scam in the contract.

A delegation of Congress leaders met the CAG Rajiv Mehrishi, their second visit within a month over the Rafale deal, and presented a memorandum to him along with fresh documents. The party had met the CAG on September 19 and thereafter the Central Vigila-nce Commission (CVC) on September 24 for a probe into the deal. Subsequent to the submissions made before the CAG earlier in the Rafale scam, the Congress alleged that documents and revelations made at the highest level in India and France have exposed a deep rooted sinister conspiracy and a clear cut case of loss to public exchequer. The Rafale scam has now emerged as Indias Biggest defence scam. Skeletons are tumbling out of the closet everyday with repeated disclosures getting zero answers from the defence ministry. Infect, the only truth of this government is subterfuge. The stench of corruption and cronyism in the Rafale Deal is nauseating, requiring urgent intervention, the Congress memorandum said.

The party also alleged that the government is unforgivably guilty of causing loss to the public exchequer worth Rs 41,205 crore in the purchase of 36 Made in France Rafale aircrafts, off the shelf without Transfer of Technology. It also alleged that in a classic case of blatant crony capitalism, private entity Reliance Defence was deliberately enriched by award of a Rs 30,000 crore offset contract at the cost of Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government.

The above facts reflect a clear-cut case of loss to public exchequer and rampant corruption coupled with a concerted conspiracy of by-passing PSU, HAL. It also reveals illegal and undue benefit to crony friends by the highest echelons of power in the PM Modi government, in the unilateral purchase of 36 Rafale Jets from Dassault Aviation i.e Indias biggest ever defence contract worth Rs 60,150 Crore, it said.

The party told the CAG that all the contours of conspiracy, corruption, endangering of national security and crony capitalism could only be uncovered through a pro-be by the joint parliamentary committee (JPC).

It is expected that the CAG which has a Constitutional mandate and authority to scrutinize every document including original tender, understanding reached between Dassault and HAL and the arbitrary decision of the Prime Minister without any mandate from Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), will undertake a forensic audit. We therefore request the CAG to bring all facts on record to enable the Parliament to fix accountability for Rafale scam, the Congress memorandum said.

The opposition party had earlier taken the matter to the CAG and said that the federal auditor informed it is already examining the entire issue for its report to Parliament and assured all the contentions raised will be looked into. The government had said that it do not think a JPC or a CAG audit is set up to satisfy the ego of an ill-informed leader who repeats lies with alarming regularity, in an apparent dig at Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. The Congress leaders who were part of the delegation to CAG included Ahmed Patel, Anand Sharma, Jairam Ramesh, Randeep Surjewala, RPN Singh and Vivek Tankha.
White House reiterated its warning to all purchaser of Iranian oil to bring it down to zero by Nov 4 or face imminent sanctions.

The objective of the Trump administration is to put maximum pressure on the government in Tehran. (Photo: File)

Washington/New Delhi: The United States is going an extra length for countries like India and Iraq to find substitute for Iranian oil, the White House said.

The White House said Thursday as it reiterated its warning to all purchaser of Iranian oil to bring it down to zero by November 4 or face imminent sanctions from the United States.

"I've had conversations (with Indian officials on purchase of Iranian oil). Others in the administration have had conversations with senior Indian officials," the US National Security Advisor John Bolton told reporters at a White House news conference.

Bolton who last month met his Indian counterpart Ajit K Doval here, a week after the two-plus-two dialogue in New Delhi, said the Trump Administration has made its views clear to Indians on Iran.

"One of the things I think that's important, whether it's for Iraq or India or anyone else -- particularly that's been a purchaser of Iranian oil -- we've gone to really extra lengths to try and find substitute sellers of oil so that there would be alternative supplies at market rates," Bolton said.

"That will help. This is something, obviously, the Obama administration wasn't doing at all. And I think this will help toward our effort of persuading companies and governments, particularly in Asia, that there are alternatives to Iran that they can pursue," he said in response to a question.

According to Bolton, as the second wave of sanctions come back onto Iran on November 4, the objective of the Trump administration is to put maximum pressure on the government in Tehran.

"It's our objective that there be no waivers from the sanctions, that exports of Iranian oil and gas drop to zero," he said.

"I'm not saying we're necessarily going to achieve that, but nobody should be operating under any illusions, what the objective is. You can look at the possibility of reductions leading to zero. It doesn't have to happen immediately, perhaps," he said in a tacit acknowledgement that countries like India might not be able to bring down their oil purchase from Iran to zero.

"But 'this is not the Obama administration,' would be my message not just to Iraq but to everybody else. And the frequency and the ease of getting waivers and exemptions is not going to be our policy," he warned in a message to the international community not to take the American threat not seriously.

"I might say, also, that we're not going to stop with the resumption of the sanctions that existed pre-2015. We're looking at others that we can impose as well," Bolton said.
The United States said that the intent to slap sanctions on Russia was to impose costs for its 'malign behaviour'.

The US also made it clear that any waiver will be considered on a transaction-by-transaction basis, adding it cannot prejudge any sanctions decisions. (Photo: AP)

New Delhi: In a guarded reaction, the United States on Friday said its intent to slap sanctions against Russia was not aimed at imposing damage to the military capabilities of its "allies or partners," shortly after India concluded a deal for purchase of S-400 missile defence system from Russia.

Stating that the intent to slap sanctions on Russia was to impose costs for its "malign behaviour", the US also made it clear that any waiver will be considered on a transaction-by-transaction basis, adding it cannot prejudge any sanctions decisions.

Responding to a query on impact of anti-Russia sanctions on India after the conclusion of the S-400 contract, the US embassy spokesperson said, "Waivers of the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) section 231 will be considered on a transaction-by-transaction basis. We cannot prejudge any sanctions decisions."

"The intent of our implementation of CAATSA is to impose costs on Russia for its malign behavior, including by stopping the flow of money to Russia's defence sector. CAATSA is not intended to impose damage to the military capabilities of our allies or partners," the spokesperson added.

However, the spokesperson said, "the waiver authority is not for a blanket waiver. It is transaction-specific. There are strict criteria for considering a waiver."

The US reaction came after India and Russia concluded the USD 5 billion S-400 air defence system deal, notwithstanding the US warning that the deal would be a "focus area" for it to implement punitive sanctions against a nation undertaking "significant" business deals with the Russians.

Also Read: Deal done: India signs up for Russia S-400 missile system amid US threat

The deal was concluded during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin for the annual summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.
Extremely heavy rainfall warning for October 7.

The bulletin also warned of widespread rain ranging from heavy to very heavy rain at isolated places during the next four or five days in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Lakshadweep.

Chennai: The Indian Meteorological Departments National Weather Forecasting Cen-tre has issued a red alert to Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry, warning of heavy to very heavy rain with extremely heavy falls at isolated places on October 7 due to the severe storm in the Arabian Sea.

A low-pressure area is very likely to form over Southeast Arabian Sea by Friday. It is very likely to concentrate into a depression during the subsequent 36 hours and move northwestwards. It is very likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm and move towards Oman coast, Deputy director general of meteorology, Chennai, S. Balachandran told reporters here.

Although the communication received by the TN government did not mention any specific areas, the IMDs weather bulletin said, Ghat areas of Tamil Nadu and adjoining parts of Kerala are likely to experience isolated extremely heavy falls around October 7. The bulletin also warned of widespread rain ranging from heavy to very heavy rain at isolated places during the next four or five days in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Lakshadweep.

Usually, a red alert is given for severe cyclonic storms and disasters like a tsunami. After the devastating Kerala floods in August, the union government is taking no chances and issued a red alert urging the state governments to take precautionary steps. The TN government on Thursday alerted all district collectors and first responders to keep the vigil on vulnerable areas and to keep the relief camps ready. Fishe-rmen in TN and Puduc-herry have been warned not to venture into the sea for the next few days.

Commissioner of revenue administration K. Satyagopal said the state government is fully prepared to face the monsoon rains. Chief minister Edappadi K. Palanisami is likely to chair a review meeting in Chennai on Friday.
But, he added, India was creating hurdles in regards to Pakistan hosting the conference.

But, he added, India was creating hurdles in regards to Pakistan hosting the conference. (Photo: Representational Image)

Islamabad: Pakistan on Thursday said that India cannot carry surgical strikes inside Pakistan.

Speaking at a weekly news briefing here, foreign office spokesperson Mohammed Faisal said criticised the overtly threatening statements by Indias Army Chief calling for surgical strikes on Pakistani soil.

Indian Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat had earlier said that the time was ripe for a surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control (LoC).

Dr Faisal said the chief of a professional Amy should refrain from making such controversial claims. Asked about the opening of the Katarpur corridor for Sikh pilgrims, the FO spokesperson lamented Indias reluctance to dialogue.

Reiterating Pakistans stance to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue, Mr Faisal said no decision can be made regarding the corridor if India does not agree for talks.

The FO spokesperson said that Pakistan held meetings with members of the South Asian Ass-ociation for Regional Cooperation on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

But, he added, India was creating hurdles in regards to Pakistan hosting the conference.

Mr Faisal said no compromise would be made on national interest whether its the issue of Shakeel Afridi or India. He said that International Court of Justice (ICJ) will conduct hearing of case pertaining to Indian spy Kuldbhushan Jadhav on February 18, adding Pakistan was completely prepared to contest its case in the ICJ.

The spokesperson alleged that 18 Kashmiris had been killed during this week by the Indian forces and Pakistan strongly condemned Indian aggression in Kashmir.

He said: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi represented Pakistanin the United Nations General Assembly session and presented messageof peace and stability.

Dr Faisal said that Pakistan is raising the issue of water andcontroversial projects initiated by India such as Kishanganga andRatle, at all forums.

Regarding China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, he said both Islamabad andBeijing are on the same page over this project. To a question, he saidbringing Afghan Taliban to negotiating table is shared responsibilityof all countries.

On the current state of ties between Islamabad and Washington, Dr Faisal said the relationships trajectory was positive. He added that Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had put forth Pakistans stancein interaction with delegates at the UNGA.

FM Qureshi categorically stated that Pakistan would not compromise on its national interest, he said.

Dr Faisal said Pakistan was pursuing a policy of peace and believed dialogue was the only way forward to resolve disputes.
(CNN)  Despite years of promising to tackle Japan's yawning gender-gap, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this week appeared to take a step backwards, halving the number of women in his cabinet from two to one.

But don't worry, he told reporters, Satsuki Katayama -- who is in a much more junior role than her predecessors -- could do the work of "two or three" women.

The cabinet reshuffle, which saw the country's most senior female official, Seiko Noda, leave government entirely, was greeted with disappointment by many observers, who said it highlighted how Abe's actions rarely match his rhetoric on the issue.

Noda, who had been a leading advocate of improving gender representation in politics, said it was "very worrying that the number of female ministers has decreased from three down to one in the last three reshuffles."

Her role as interior minister now falls to a man, but the gender equality portfolio passes to Katayama. She had a rough introduction to her new role, when she was forced to rush out and buy a new outfit for a photo call, after male colleagues reportedly complained about her original choices.

Katayama's office did not respond to a request for comment about the issue or the cabinet reshuffle.

'Womenomics'

Japan has struggled for decades with the gender pay gap and issues of female representation in politics.

According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, more than 90 percent of Japanese lawmakers are men, and the country ranked 163 out of 190 in its latest report on women in politics.

Abe has promised to tackle this issue and his government still lists women's empowerment as a major priority. In 2013, he described women as the country's "most underutilized resource," and vowed to improve gender representation and closing gaps in the workforce with "womenomics."

At a press conference Wednesday, acknowledging the lack of representation within his own cabinet, Abe said "the society in which women can have active roles has just started in Japan."

"I believe that more and more (female) talents who can make it into the cabinet will see advancement now," he added.

But these comments will ring hollow to many critics who point to Abe's wealth of opportunity -- he's on course to be the country's longest-ever serving prime minister -- to promote change.

While more women have joined the workforce, there remains a disparity in the type of work done, pay and seniority. Around 75 percent of male workers are in regular employment, compared to 42% of women, the majority of whom are in casual or part-time jobs that do not provide the same security or benefits.

"(Abe) pushes women into the labor force because there is a shortage in labor," said Yuka Ogata, a councilwoman in Kumamoto, a city on Japan's southern Kyushu island.

"But this just means there are more women in the labor market who have part-time jobs without much social security. Not many women are in decision-making positions."

Pushing back

Women who do attempt to break through in politics or business often face resistance from older men who continue to dominate those spheres.

That's something Ogata knows only too well. Last year, she was ejected from the Kumamoto council chamber after she brought her seven-month-old son to a session in protest at the lack of childcare facilities.

"I requested that I could bring the baby to the chamber so I could breastfeed and join the vote at the same time," she said.

The move came after council leaders repeatedly refused her requests for support during and after pregnancy, such as providing daycare for council staff and visitors, or allowing her to nominate a stand-in to vote on her behalf during maternity leave.

"All of those ideas were dismissed right away," Ogata said. "In Japan, the number of children is decreasing year-by-year, and here I am speaking up for people who are raising children in modern Japan. I know the challenges and I am suggesting the solutions, but they really wouldn't listen."

When she eventually did bring her son to a short, 15-minute session, male colleagues told her to leave the chamber immediately and refused to proceed, eventually ejecting Ogata.

"It (was a) struggle between somebody who is trying to bring about change and those who want to keep things the way they are and have been," she said.

Ogata saw echoes of that event this week when she was again told to leave the chamber during her questioning of a senior council member about a decision to reject several petitions related to making the assembly more accessible, such as broadcasting sessions on YouTube and improving how quickly transcripts are produced.

Members complained that she had a lozenge in her mouth -- which Ogata said was necessary to avoid coughing during the session -- and demanded that she apologize, when she refused she was ejected.

A spokesman for the council said Ogata had been found to have "hurt the dignity of the assembly" by her fellow lawmakers.

Ogata said she hoped her continued actions and refusal to be cowed by men in positions of seniority would give hope to young Japanese women, "by showing I'm standing up and sticking to my beliefs."

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Japan's Abe claims lone woman in his cabinet worth 'two or three'."
The National School of Public Policy withdrew the invitation and maintained that the event had been cancelled due to scheduling constraints.

Islamabad: Indian high commissioner in Pakistan Ajay Bisarias speech at a training institute in Lahore was cancelled at the last minute on Thursday.

Mr Bisaria was scheduled to deliver a speech at the Lahore campus of National School of Public Policy, an institution for training of civil servants in Pakistan.

The event was organised by Civil Services Academy in Pakistan and the invitation was sent last month.

The institute, however, withdrew the invitation and maintained that the event had been cancelled due to scheduling constraints.

Recently, Mr Bisaria was also stopped from visiting a gurdwara, despite securing prior permissions. The foreign ministry claimed the Sikh pilgrims from India did not want to meet the Indian envoy.

This month, India cancelled the proposed foreign ministers meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said that talks with Pakistan have begun many times.

However, the only thing the stopped India was Pakistans behaviour. Pak-India ties turned frosty after the Pathankot attack in January, 2016 and another strike by militants on an Army camp in Kashmirs Uri area in September that year.

The nuclear armed neighbours have fought three wars since gaining Independence from the British in 1947. The two South Asian neighbours also regularly trade allegations of harassment and espionage against diplomats.

Reports said the cross-border clashes between nuclear-armed Pakistan and India had reached the highest levels in 15 years. Hundreds of people have been killed or wounded in the clashes.

The Line of Control and the Working Boundary had remained relatively peaceful after the 2003 ceasefire agreement but recent skirmishes have heightened the tension.

India also accuses Pakistan of inciting the Sikh community to intensify the Khalistan campaign. Pakistan rejects the Indian allegation.
These agreements will foster the development of renewable energy innovations in India, such as high-efficiency solar panels.

These agreements will foster the development of renewable energy innovations in India, such as high-efficiency solar panels, power storage, e-mobility and smart grid management, it said. (Photo: AFP)

New Delhi: Two agreements have been signed between India and France to foster the development of renewable energy innovations in the country, such as high-efficiency solar panels, power storage, e-mobility and smart grid management.

French minister Brune Poirson signed two cooperation agreements between the French Development Agency (AFD), the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), Bollore-Blue-Solution and their Indian partner, Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI), according to an official statement on Thursday.

These agreements will foster the development of renewable energy innovations in India, such as high-efficiency solar panels, power storage, e-mobility and smart grid management, it said.

Poirson also visited the French stand at the RE-Invest Expo at the India Expo Mart, Greater Noida to highlight the participation of French companies and encourage them.

Major French companies are particularly present in the renewable energy sector in India, such as EDF, Engie, Schneider Electric, as well as SMEs and midcaps, such as Technique solaire, which is currently developing its second solar park in Maharashtra; ECM-SEMCO, which produces solar panels; and Navalt, which produces solar-powered boats.
Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath described the demand of 50 seats by Bahujan Samaj Party as too high to meet by his party.

Bhopal: A day after Congress was dumped with a snub by mercurial Mayawati, partys Madhya Pradesh chief Kamal Nath on Thursday set the record straight, saying, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)s irrational demand of seats for the year-end Assembly polls in MP had caused the alliance talks between them to fall through.

Elaborating his point, Mr Nath said Ms Mayawati had sought the seats where her party has hardly any presence whereas she wanted Congress to field candidates in some other constituencies, considered BSP stronghold.

BSPs demand of its share of seats during alliance talks was beyond my comprehension. Neither BSP nor Congress would have won in these seats. The ultimate gainer would have been BJP, said Mr Nath.

Mr Nath also described the demand of 50 seats by BSP as too high to meet by his party. He, however, put up a brave front saying that BSPs decision not to have poll understanding with Congress in the year-end Assembly elections in MP was not a setback for his party.

The groundswell of support for Congress in MP is phenomenal, he claimed. Apparently trying to woo the BSP workers, he quipped, Even the smallest BSP worker will understand its implications and vote accordingly.

Mr Nath, who was handling the botched alliance talks with BSP supremo, however still appeared optimistic that Ms Mayawati would join the Congress-led Mahaga-thbandhan or grand alliance to defeat BJP in 2019 parliamentary polls.

He also dismissed charges by Ms Mayawati that AICC general secretary Digvijay Singhs machinations led to failure of alliance talks, saying, It is not right to blame Mr Singh.

Asked if Mr Singhs attack on Ms Mayawati for not entering electoral understanding with Congress a few days ago had led to failure of alliance talks, Mr Nath said, I will talk to Mr Singh what he had said.

Mr Singh had earlier reportedly said Ms Mayawati was under pressure of CBI not to go for poll tie up with Congress in Madhya Pradesh.
Deputy PM Yuri Ushakov said that Russia and India plan to sign more than 20 documents apart from the USD 5 billion deal.

The two leaders will hold comprehensive discussions on wide-ranging bilateral, regional and international issues, including US sanctions against Moscow and counter-terrorism cooperation. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived here Thursday evening for the annual summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders are expected to sign the S-400 air defence system deal and a number of other pacts in key sectors such as space and energy.

Putin, who was received by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on his arrival, went straight to Modi's official Lok Kalyan Marg residence where the two leaders had a one-on-one meeting.

Later, Modi hosted a private dinner for the visiting dignitary. The dinner meeting comes a day ahead of the 19th India-Russia annual summit during which the two leaders will hold comprehensive discussions on wide-ranging bilateral, regional and international issues, including US sanctions against Moscow and counter-terrorism cooperation.

The Russian President is accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Trade and Industry Minister Denis Manturov among others during his two-day visit.

Ahead of his meeting, Modi tweeted, "Welcome to India, President Putin. Looking forward to our deliberations, which will further enhance India-Russia friendship." The tweet was also posted in the Russian language.

As Putin landed in New Delhi, the Russian news agency TASS reported that on Friday, a number of bilateral agreements will be signed, including the USD 5 billion contract to deliver the S-400 air defence missile systems to India.

Ahead of the visit, the Russian President's aide Yuri Ushakov was quoted by media as saying that Russia and India are planning to sign more than 20 documents at the end of the Putin-Modi talks and that Putin will oversee the signing of the USD 5 billion deal.

The agreements to be signed are likely to boost cooperation in keys sectors such as defence, space, trade, energy and tourism, among others.

The spotlight will be on the S-400 missile defence system deal as, if signed, it could violate US sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) instituted by the US Congress on arms purchases from Russia.

The US has urged its allies to forgo transactions with Russia, warning that the S-400 missile defence system that India intends to buy would be a "focus area" for it to implement punitive sanctions against a nation undertaking "significant" business deals with the Russians.

American lawmakers, however, have allowed the possibility of a presidential waiver. India has already given indications that it will go ahead with the deal notwithstanding the US sanctions.

"India has maintained its sovereignty as regards to its relationship with countries. We shall maintain it in all earnestness," Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman told PTI recently when asked whether the US sanctions will hit India's defence ties with Russia, especially after the signing of the S-400 missile deal.

India wants to procure the long-range missile systems to tighten its air defence mechanism, particularly along the nearly 4,000-km-long Sino-India border.

S-400 is known as Russia's most advanced long-range surface-to-air missile defence system. China was the first foreign buyer to seal a government-to-government deal with Russia in 2014 to procure the lethal missile system and Moscow has already started delivery of an undisclosed number of the S-400 missile systems to Beijing.

The S-400 is an upgraded version of the S-300 systems. The missile system, manufactured by Almaz-Antey, has been in service in Russia since 2007.

Russia has been one of India's key suppliers of arms and ammunition. Sources had earlier said Modi and Putin would also deliberate on the impact of US sanctions on the import of crude oil from Iran.

Besides holding talks with Modi, the Russian leader will also have a meeting with President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday. He will also interact with a group of talented children and address an India-Russia business meet.

The last annual summit was held on June 1, 2017, during the visit of the prime minister to Russia. In May, Modi had travelled to Russian coastal city of Sochi for an informal summit with Putin during which they discussed a range of crucial issues.
Daring Mr Modi to bring fuel prices back to the 2014 level instead of throwing a pittance of one or two rupees at the public.

New Delhi: Terming the cut in fuel prices as a panic reaction, the Congress on Thursday challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to bring down the prices back to the 2014 level as well as get petroleum products under the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

Congress chief spokesp-erson Randeep Singh Surjewala said that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled states of Maharashtra, Chattisgarh, Jharkh-and and Rajasthan levy the highest value added tax (VAT) on petroleum products. He demanded that the fuel be brought under the GST, whose tax slabs are much lower than the VAT levied.

Mr Surjewala said that an RTI reply has revealed that the Modi government was selling petrol and diesel to several countries at less than half the price, at which it was being sold in India. This show that this government is fleecing its own people.

Daring Mr Modi to bring fuel prices back to the 2014 level instead of throwing a pittance of one or two rupees at the public, Mr Surjewala said the cut in fuel prices was insignificant, like needle in a hay stack. The cut was a panic reaction in the face of public anger ahead of assembly polls in four states, he added. After inflicting a thousand wounds, the Modi government is offering band-aid, he summed up.

The government on Thursday announced a Rs 2.50 per litre cut in petrol and diesel prices by reducing excise duty and asking PSU oil firms to take a hit of Rs 9,000 crore.a step that was matched by BJP-ruled states by slashing VAT so as to double the reduction in retail rates.
Plea challenges provisions on restitution of conjugal rights.

New Delhi: A woman, who had challenged the provisions related to restitution of conjugal rights on the grounds that she has a right to sexually autonomy and to be left alone, has failed to get any relief from the Supreme Court.

The woman, an engineering graduate working in a multinational IT major, had moved the top court challenging the constitutional validity of provision of the Hindu Marriage Act 1955, after her estranged husband had filed a suit for restitution of conjugal rights.

The plea claimed that coercive act of state compelling sexual co-habitation infringes a womans fundamental right to privacy, dignity, mental and physical health, personal liberty and right to equality under the Constitution.

A bench of Justices U.U. Lalit and M.M. Shantanagoudar refused to entertain her plea saying the matter was purely pre-mature at this juncture as at this stage, only a petition for restitution of conjugal rights was filed by her husband.

Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade and advocate Fauzia Shakil, appearing for the woman, referred to the apex courts historic judgement in the Right to Privacy matter and said that a woman has the right to sexual autonomy and to be left alone.

The petitioner had claimed that provisions related to restitution of conjugal rights violated the freedom of sexual expression under the Constitution.

The petitioners main grievance is that the process of law cannot compel or induce a woman to surrender her right of sexual and decisional autonomy, which is part of her fundamental right under Article 21 (protection of life and personal liberty), the plea said.

The woman also said that compelling her to go back to her husband for restitution of conjugal rights against her wishes would tantamount to marital rape.

In her plea, she claimed that her marriage was solemnised in November 2014 but soon thereafter, her husband started to harass her mentally and physically.

The woman said that she had left her matrimonial home and registered a criminal case against her husband and in-laws.

She claimed that in 2017, her husband had filed a suit for restitution of conjugal rights before a family court and the matter was pending.
India is set to sign a much-talked-about contract to acquire S-400 missiles from Russia worth nearly $6 billion during the visit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin to his 7 Lok Kalyan Marg residence on Thursday evening, where Mr Modi later hosted a dinner for his distinguished guest. The two will hold summit talks on Friday. (Photo: AP)

New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin landed in New Delhi on Thursday evening and was warmly received by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj, following which the Russian President met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who hosted a dinner for him. The meeting took place ahead of the detailed talks to be held between the two leaders on the occasion of the India-Russia annual bilateral summit on Friday, when a crucial deal for the acquisition of the S-400 air defence missile system from Russia is expected to be signed. This is likely to be among several agreements to be inked in various fields, including cooperation in space.

Upon his arrival in India for the #IndiaRussia Annual Bilateral Summit, @KremlinRussia_E Vladimir Putin was warmly received by EAM @SushmaSwaraj #DruzbaDosti, the MEA tweeted on Thursday.

PM Modi tweeted: Welcome to India, President Putin. Looking forward to our deliberations, which will further enhance India-Russia friendship. The government released images of the two leaders warmly embracing each other. When asked why Mr Modi had not personally received the Russian leader at the airport, government sources said several factors including reciprocity are taken into consideration and that such a decision is the PMs prerogative.

The Thursday evening meeting of the two leaders follows the hugely successful informal summit they held at the Russian Black Sea resort city of Sochi in May this year, which had considerably strengthened relations with Indias time-tested friend.

According to reports, India is set to sign a much-talked-about contract to acquire S-400 missiles from Russia worth nearly $6 billion during the visit. India had earlier decided to go ahead with acquiring these missiles from Russia much to the discomfiture of the United States, whose ties with Moscow are under a severe strain. Caught in a difficult situation, India is hoping to secure a waiver from the US to escape the American sanctions on Russian military exports.

External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had also visited Russia last month, on September 13-14. It may be recalled that India and the US had last month held their 2+2 dialogue at the foreign and defence ministerial level in New Delhi, when India put across its case firmly to Washington for a waiver on the acquisition of S-400 missiles from Russia.

While the defence and civil nuclear sectors are the mainstay of the decades-long Indo-Russian cooperation, Ms Swaraj visited Russia to attend the meeting of the 23rd India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission on Technical and Economic Cooperation, co-chaired by her and Russian deputy PM Yuri Borisov. IRIGC-TEC is a standing body that meets annually and reviews bilateral cooperation in trade and investment, science and technology, culture and other issues of mutual interest.

With the sharp deterioration of ties between Russia and the West, experts feel New Delhi had earlier this year realised that a perception had crept in that it had grown too close to Washington at the cost of its ties with time-tested friend Russia. Moscow too had considerably softened its stand towards Islamabad, adding to New Delhis discomfort.

But with one masterstroke that the Sochi informal summit was, New Delhi had sought to erase any misconception or negative perceptions in Moscows mind and put the decades-old friendship firmly back on track. The move had also sent a powerful signal to the West that India will not sacrifice its strategic friendship with Russia at any cost. New Delhi has also made it clear it will continue to acquire weapons systems from Russia despite the American sanctions on Russian military exports.
The authorities have blamed the shooting on separatist militants, but none of the militant outfit has owned responsibility.

Srinagar: Just three days before local body elections in Srinagar, three workers of the National Conference (NC) were on Friday shot at from point blank range by unknown gunmen in Jammu and Kashmirs summer capital. While two of them died soon after being admitted to hospital, the third is battling for life, police and hospital sources said.

The attack came on a day when home minister Rajnath Singh blamed Pakistan for the unrest in the state and claimed that 90 per cent of the people in the state would like to participate the panchayat and urban local bodies polls. The polling for the Srinagar municipal corporation is scheduled on October 8.

Srinagar senior superintendent of police Imtiyaz Ismail said that three NC workers were sitting in a shop in Qarfali Mohalla when attacked.

It appears they were targeted deliberately. It wasnt a sort of indiscriminate act of firing, he said.

The slain have been identified as Mushtaq Ahmed Wani and Nazir Ahmed Bhat while the injured was identified as Shakeel Ahmed Zangoo.

The authorities have blamed the shooting on separatist militants, but none of the militant outfit has owned responsibility.

The separatists and supporting militants have asked people to boycott the local body elections on the premise that such exercises cannot be a substitute to the promised plebiscite to determine the political future of Jammu and Kashmir.

A delegation of the NC met governor Satya Pal Malik to demand a probe into the shooting incident and protection to party workers.

Meanwhile, a CRPF jawan was injured in a grenade attack in Tral area of southern Pulwama district late Friday evening. The police said that suspected militants hurled at hand grenade towards a camp of the CRPFs 180th Battalion in Tral town, resulting in injuries to one of its jawans.

In New Delhi, the Union home minister said that security environment in J&K had improved as number of terror incidents had dropped drastically from 6,000 in 1995 to just 360 in 2017.

While admitting that situation in the state needs to improve further, Mr Singh said that Indian is keen to have better relations with Pakistan but it continues to fully support and sponsor terror activities in the state.

He also said that people of J&K were keen to be take part the electoral process like that of local bodies and panchayats which are being revived after a long time.

The home minister admitted that the experiment of a PDP-BJP government in J&K did not succeed even though both parties tried to honour the mandate of the Assembly elections.
However, the partys Parliamentary board will take a final call on the candidature of the Modi from Puri, added Mr Panda.

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Bharatiya Janata Party unit has given a proposal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contest from Puri constituency during the ensuing general polls in 2019, state party president Basant Panda said on Friday.

We want the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contest from Puri. However, the partys Parliamentary board will take a final call on the candidature of the Modi from Puri, added Mr Panda.

Our Mission 120 in Odisha is on right track and the party will achieve more than that during the forthcoming polls which is also reflected in public opinion poll, Mr Panda said.

The proposal comes a day after the ABP News-C Voter Desh ka Mood survey predicted that Narendra Modi-led BJP is likely to win big in Odisha during the upcoming 2019 general elections even though it will not be a smooth ride for its ruling alliance NDA, which is projected to emerge victorious in 276 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats across the country.

BJP is seeking to brighten its prospects in the eastern state where speculations of Mr Modi contesting on a seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections are rife. If that happens, BJP-led National Democratic Alliance is likely to get 13 seats, the survey report quoted.

The survey also stated that it will be a major setback for BJD which is likely to win six Lok Sabha seats out of 21 seats, while others including Congress may get just two if elections are held today.
Dutta has alleged that Patekar misbehaved with her and harassed her during the shooting of a film in 2008.

Mumbai: Amid the storm over harassment of actor Tanushree Dutta, minister of state (home) Deepak Kesarkar on Thursday said that there would be a fair probe if Dutta filed a police complaint against actor Nana Patekar.

Dutta has alleged that Patekar misbehaved with her and harassed her during the shooting of a film in 2008.

Mr Kesarkar on Wednesday came out in support of Patekar with respect to Duttas allegations of harassment on the sets of a film in 2008. He said that Patekar was an illustrious personality who had done a lot for the state and asked why Dutta hadnt filed a police complaint in the past 10 years. Mr Kesarkar also clarified that the government was not biased towards Patekar.

When an official complaint is lodged, the police will be able to probe the case transparently so that justice is done to both sides, the minister said.

He added that the state government wasnt prejudiced or biased in favor of anybody and that all were equal before the law. Yesterday, I had only said that Patekar has done a lot of work in the state as a social worker. A formal complaint will ensure that nobodys name is maligned and justice is meted out to both.

Dutta recently alleged that Patekar misbehaved with her on the sets of a film in 2008. She also alleged that he had the tacit support of the films makers.

On Thursday, Dutta was slapped with two legal notices from Patekar and filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri. While raising allegations against Patekar, Dutta also said that Agnihotri behaved inappropriately with her during the making of a film in 2005.

Meanwhile, Dutta said, I have been slapped with two legal notices Thursday from Patekar and Agnihotri. This is the price you pay for speaking out against harassment, humiliation and injustice in India.
The DMER will handle the work for now.

Mumbai: After the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested two medical social workers in a kidney transplant racket, the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) has suspended the committee, which, till date, approved all live organ transplants in the state, including those performed at private hospitals. The panel will not review or clear any requests while the inquiry is underway for the recent bribe matter. The DMER will handle the work for now.

On Monday, ACB arrested two persons identified as Tushar Savarkar, superintendent of the social work department at state-run JJ Hospital; and Sachin Salve, privately-run Raheja Hospital. Both are organ transplant coordinators in the kidney transplant racket.

The ACB arrested both the accused for allegedly accepting a bribe of `80,000 for clearing a patients file for a kidney transplant, from where the regional organ authorisation committee operates.

Dr Praveen Shingare from DMER said, We have suspended the transplant committee which approves the transplants at JJ Hospital. Till date, this committee has approved all live organ transplants in Maharashtra, including those performed at private hospitals.

Dr Shingare added that they suspended Savarkar and issued a show-cause notice to S.L. Raheja Hospital, for cancelling the kidney transplant licence, asking it to give an explanation for the concerned matter.

The DMER has asked the Raheja Hospital authorities to give details of how they were not aware of their coordinators illegal conduct. Dr Shingare further said that the three-member panel formed to probe the alleged racket would investigate whether other members of the authorisation committee, were also involved in the scam.
The state government has taken the decision keeping in mind festivals like Dussehra and Diwali.

Mumbai: After the reduction in petrol and diesel prices by the Union government and oil companies, the state government has given a further relief of Rs 2.50 per litre only on petrol and not diesel, resulting in a total effect of Rs 5 on fuel prices. Skyrocketing fuel prices, which were increased by Rs 7-8 per litre in the last two months, will now be come down by Rs 5 per litre. The state government has taken the decision keeping in mind festivals like Dussehra and Diwali. Diesel prices will be reduced by Rs 1-2 per litre across the state very soon, said senior government officials. Fuel prices have been escalating over the last few months. In the last two months alone, petrol prices went up by Rs 7.58 per litre in Mumbai. The rate of petrol was Rs 83.76 on August 1, Rs 86.09 on September 1 and Rs 91.34 on October 4, said pump dealers.

The Union governments decision to cut fuel prices by Rs 2.5 was prompted by the growing public ire, pressure by the opposition and the forthcoming assembly elections in five states. Responding to the appeal of the Union government, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis too announced a cut in petrol prices by Rs 2.5 across Maharashtra.

Initially, the state government was reluctant to reduce prices because of its financial burden. It was ready to bring fuel prices under GST, as the Union government would have compensated the loss of revenue. But following instructions by the Union government and public pressure, the CM announced the cut. Even though he has not announced any reduction in diesel prices as yet, they are likely to be reduced by Rs 1-2 per litre soon, said sources.

Meanwhile, the opposition lashed out at the state government for not announcing any cut in diesel price. Leader of opposition Dhananjay Munde said the government had looted the people and taken the decision very late. Maharashtra government reduced only petrol prices, which is unfair, he said.
On the occasion of World Animal Day, Sidharth Malhotra has urged everyone to do their bit for the animals of the world.

Mumbai: On the occasion of World Animal Day, Sidharth Malhotra has urged everyone to do their bit for the animals of the world.

The 33-year-old took to social media to share a video where he can be seen petting an elephant. In the caption, he wrote, "We need to open our arms to the animals of the world. So many need our help. Some need to be adopted, some need basic care & some need to live in their natural habitat. The least we can do is talk & acknowledge. Participate. Show you care. Spread the word. #WorldAnimalDay"

We need to open our arms to the animals of the world. So many need our help. Some need to be adopted, some need basic care & some need to live in their natural habitat. The least we can do is talk & acknowledge. Participate. Show you care. Spread the word. #WorldAnimalDay pic.twitter.com/EUD5NXehpA  Sidharth Malhotra (@S1dharthM) October 4, 2018

October 4 is celebrated as World Animal Day annually. According to its official website, the mission of the day is "to raise the status of animals in order to improve welfare standards around the globe."

The first World Animal Day was organised on 24 March 1925 in Berlin by Heinrich Zimmermann, the German writer and publisher of the magazine Mensch und Hund/Man and Dog.

However, in 1929, it was celebrated for the first time on October 4 as it is the day of Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of ecology, including animals. According to a legend, Saint Francis was able to talk to animals.
Page Not Found!

It seems that the page you are looking for does not exist or has been removed.


The conservative politician will have to pay some 20 million dollars in fines and forfeiture. His charges include abuse of power and embezzlement. All living former South Korean presidents have been jailed after completing their mandate.

Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies)  The Seoul Central District sentenced former South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to 15 years in prison.

Lee was found guilty on a series of charges, including abuse of power, corruption and embezzlement. The conservative politician was not present at hearing for health reasons.

According to the public prosecutor - who had requested 20 years of imprisonment - Lee embezzled 24.6 billion won (about US$ 22 million) whilst in office (2008-2013).

The Court ordered him to pay about US$ 20 million in fines and forfeiture.

The court also said it was not appropriate for Lee to continue denying his charges, as concrete evidence was found to back the allegations.

The former presidents legal team had been pushing liability to his aides and subordinates, saying that they had committed the crimes for their own benefit and were slandering him.

South Korean presidents seem to be destined for prison. All four living former heads of state have been convicted, in what appears to be a showdown between generations and opposing parties.

Park Geun-hye, who replaced Lee in 2013, was sentenced in 2017 to 25 years in prison; Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, former generals who ruled in the 1980s and 1990s, were jailed for corruption but benefitted from a presidential after a few years behind bars.
by Nirmala Carvalho

Already two episodes of violence since the beginning of the month. The church of Saint Thomas vandalized in Varanasi; in Assam a statue of Don Bosco desecrated. The climate of impunity "encourages extremist groups".

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - Violence against the Christian minority and their places of worship continues unabated in India. Since the beginning of the month barley a week asgo, there are already two episodes of discrimination and vandalization, as reported by the Christian group Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC).

President Sajan K George reports to AsiaNews that the incidents occurred in Uttar Pradesh and Assam. "The upsurge of episodes against Christians in various states - he says - reveals a very dangerous trend in secular India, which guarantees religious freedom at constitutional level".

The most recent case occurred on 2 October in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, when a group of about 50-60 radicals belonging to the Hindi Yuva Shakti Sangathan marched against the church of Saint Thomas [Protestant, ed.]. "Hindu nationalists have vandalized property and threatened the pastor with further violence if he did not stop making forced conversions. The activists of the extremist fringe gave life to a fight inside the church accusing the pastor of converting Hindus against their will ". The church in question, explains Sajan K George, was born 200 years ago and is only open on Sundays. "So the accusation of forced conversions makes no sense".

The second case of discrimination took place in Assam during the night of 29 September, when some criminals desecrated the statue of Don Bosco in the city of Tezpur. The police has still not identified any suspects. Instead in Varanasi 60 people have been reported for public ruckus and damage to private property.

The GCIC, concludes the Christian activist, "is saddened by the climate of impunity that encourages the radical elements and the silence of those who are responsible for enforcing the order. Both of these endanger the vulnerable Christian minority ".
The Oslo Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad. The young Yazidi woman endured multiple rapes by Jihadis. After she fled, she found the courage to speak out against their madness. For Chaldean priests, there are hundreds like her who need help to get over their trauma.

Erbil (AsiaNews)  Nadia Murad, a Yazidi woman victim of sexual and other violence at the hands of the Islamic State (IS) group, was this years co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Fr Samir Youssef, pastor in the Diocese of Amadiya (Kurdistan), spoke to AsiaNews about the decision of the Nobel committee. In his view, the award is the recognition of her courage as a living symbol and memory of the violence and massacres endured by an entire people. It is also a call for healing the victims who still have to deal with the trauma of the abuses they had to endure.

Over the past few years, the Chaldean priest has helped thousands of Christian, Muslim and Yazidi refugees who fled their homes in 2014 to escape the IS-installed Caliphate.

He saw with his own eyes the devastation endured by the victims, often young women  some underage - treated as real sexual slaves by Jihadis.

This morning the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo announced that this years Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Dr Denis Mukwege, a Congolese physician and activist and Nadia Murad, the Yazidi activist.

According to the motivations the Committee cited the recognition of "their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict".

Sexual violence is now recognised as a weapon used by soldiers and is often associated with massacres or genocide against entire populations, as was the case in Iraq against the Yazidi minority.

Nadia Murad, 25, was taken in August 2014 from her native village of Kocho, near Sinjar, to Mosul, ISs stronghold in Iraq. During the Jihadi siege of Mount Sinjar, the young woman lost six brothers and her mother.

In the capital of the "Caliphate", she was subjected to repeated rapes and torture, along with thousands of other young women, some of them minors.

During her captivity, she was beaten, burnt with cigarette butts, and raped several times. She escaped when her torturers were distracted, taking refuge with a family that helped her to reach a refugee camp in Dohuk, Iraqi Kurdistan.

In September 2016 she became the first UNODC* Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking. A month later she was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the highest human rights award granted by the European Union (EU), for her commitment to victims.

The Yazidis, an ethno-religious minority concentrated in Iraq, are among the groups who suffered the most at the hands of the Islamic State group (also known as Daesh based on its Arabic acronym), a treatment akin to genocide according to some activists.

As soon as she was free, Nadia Murad Basee (with Lamiya Aji Bashar) had the courage and strength to tell the world about the horror that they, as well as thousands of other women and girls, had to endure under the Jihadi yoke.

"This award, for which Patriarch Sako was also a candidate, is great and makes us happy and proud," said Fr Samir. The recognition is "a token of encouragement, a hymn to life and a source of hope after the drama suffered under Daesh."

What goes for Yazidis also goes for "all minorities, including Christians, who have had to endure war, terrorism, and rape" as weapons of war.

Nadia Murad "teaches us all that life is stronger than negative experiences, that it goes on despite evil and must come with forgiveness, which is a source of reconciliation". Nadias strength and courage, according to the clergyman, "are a sign of God's love".

For Fr Samir, giving the Nobel Peace Prize to the Yazidi woman is a clarion call to "know the stories of suffering and persecution" that have been told repeatedly in the past few years in Iraq. It is an invitation to speak out.

"I personally know many young women who have endured the same violence and have never found the strength to talk about it. They just weep in silence full of shame.

"Hopefully, now the world will pay more attention to their tragedy, their suffering, and strive to provide them with the appropriate help to overcome the trauma. Even today in Iraq there are hundreds like Nadia Murad."

* United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
Vietnamese President Tran ai Quang died on 21 September after a long illness. ang Thi Ngoc Trinh became acting president, Vietnams first female head of state. Conservative and the regimes strongman, the 74-year-old Trong is behind a major crackdown against corruption. He is expected to take office in a few weeks.

Hanoi (AsiaNews)  Vietnams ruling Communist Party (ang Cong san Viet Nam) has nominated its General Secretary, Nguyen Phu Trong (pictured), for the post of President of Vietnam. Now his nomination goes to the National Assembly for approval, a foregone conclusion.

When elected, Trong will become the first Vietnamese leader to hold the titles of party general secretary and president of the country since founding president and revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh.

Truong will replace President Tran ai Quang who died on 21 September after a long illness. Currently, Vice President ang Thi Ngoc Trinh is acting president, the first woman one to become Vietnams head of state.

Two days ago, the government posted a statement online announcing that "the Central Committee agreed unanimously to propose that the National Assembly vote on the nomination of comrade Nguyen Phu Trong."

A conservative, Trong is the communist regimes strongman. During his second term as party chief, the 74-year-old launched a tough crackdown against corruption that saw high-ranking party and state officials and a politburo member brought to trial over allegations of financial mismanagement and embezzlement.

However, holding two posts at the same time could lead to internal political conflict.
Each settlement will include a market, a school, a public park and a clinic. The Burmese government continues to repeat that the country "is ready to welcome refugees". Facilities already built in 19 locations, some of which are for Rakhine ethnic people. Taking advantage of the widespread feeling of fear, the nationalists demand that the Muslim and Buddhist communities be separated.

Naypyidaw (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The government of Myanmar has started to build another 12 "model villages" in the municipality of Maungdaw, in the north of Rakhine, to host the Rohingya refugees who should return from Bangladesh.

In order to facilitate the repatriation of hundreds of thousands of refugees, Naypyidaw and Dhaka signed a deal in early 2018. However, none have yet returned to Maungdaw through official channels. Meanwhile, the Burmese government continues to repeat that the country is ready to welcome the Rohingya.

Representatives of the executive, including Union Minister U Kyaw Tint Swe and Social Welfare Minister, Win Myat Aye, reiterated this position during the UN General Assembly in progress in New York. Defenders of the Islamic minority - including Prof. Waka Uddin of Pennsylvania State University, who serves as the general director of the Araq Rohingya Union (Aru) - say, however, that Naypyidaw has not yet managed to prepare suitable structures to receive refugees.

U Ye Htoo, an administrative officer in the district of Maungdaw, explains that the local authorities are working on two projects: the construction of modest homes for refugees, under the supervision of the Union Enterprise for Humanitarian Assistance, Resettlement and Development in Rakhine (Uehrd); the implementation of the "model village" plan, which is still ongoing.

The administrator states that, under Uehrd management, structures have been set up in 19 locations, some of which are intended for people of Rakhine ethnicity (an autochthonous population of Buddhist religion). However, U Ye Htoo has not communicated a specific number of houses under construction for Rohingya and non-Muslim groups. At the moment, he reports that the government has identified 12 priority sites and each village will include a market, a school, a public park and a clinic.

Meanwhile the government of the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by the democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi, is following up on commitments made with Bangladesh and the United Nations (UN). Taking advantage of the widespread fear of possible Islamist infiltration in the region, Rakhine nationalists and politicians demand that Muslim and Buddhist communities be separated; that the south of Maungdaw is declared a " Muslim free zone".

Before the outbreak of the latest sectarian violence, the tribals of the region (Buddhists and Hindus) were about a tenth of the Muslims. During the armed clashes, many lost their lives at the hands of Rohingya militants. According to U Ye Htoo, the authorities will restore the Muslim communities both north and south of the city.
by Trung Tin

"Missionary points" dotted around the suburbs of the cities, catechism and priestly formation. Msgr Joseph o Manh Hung: "To help children make the right choices, to build the future and contribute to Church and society". Msgr. Peter Nguyen Van Vien: "Express their identity and promote the mission of truth".

Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews) - The commitment of the Vietnamese Church to young people will also be reflected in the current Synod (3-28 October), thanks to the participation of two bishops: Msgr. Joseph o Manh Hung (photo 2), auxiliary of the archdiocese of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), and Msgr. Peter Nguyen Van Vien (photo 3), auxiliary of the diocese of Vinh.

Children and families: the bishops of Vietnam have dedicated the pastoral year 2018 to them and continue to pay particular attention to this sphere. This is reflected in the "missionary points" disseminated in the suburbs of the cities, in the catechism and also in the field of priestly formation.

This year, thanks to the courses of pastoral practice carried out by the major seminary Saint Joseph of Saigon, 17 deacons have learned theories and techniques of psychological counseling. "They are ideas - the students told AsiaNews - that we can put into practice in every parish and community. In particular, we must turn to poor and less fortunate children who are shy and tormented by guilt. When we visit them and listen to them, they feel happy and become more confident. As a result, these little faithful and their families participate more often in Holy Mass ".

On several occasions, Msgr. Joseph o Manh Hung highlighted the challenges facing Vietnamese families today, such as economic difficulties and the crisis of values. On the occasion of the Migration Conference, organized by the Pastoral Center of Saigon between April 23 and 26, the bishop invited parishes to greater collaboration and the faithful to "deal with problems step by step, in the spirit of communion with the Church".

Months later, the Federation of Asian Episcopal Conferences (FABC) organized a preparatory event for the Synod on Youth. It took place in Pattaya (Thailand) between July 9 and 13. In his speech, Msgr. Joseph o Manh Hung emphasized "the need for programs for youth formation". "We must accompany young people - was his appeal - Let us help them identify and make the right choices, to build their future and contribute to the Church and society".

The diocese of Vinh, among the poorest in the country, has always encouraged young people to play a leading role in evangelization and in the missionary work of the Church. For this, during the FABC conference, Msgr. Peter Nguyen Van Vien reiterated that Catholics are called to "encourage young people to express their identity and promote the Church's mission of truth within their living environment".
N. Oregon Coast's Astoria-Megler Bridge Closes Completely for Three Hours

Published 10/05/2018 at 4:44 AM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff





(Astoria, Oregon)  A major bridge on the north Oregon coast will shut down on Sunday, October 14, as the Astoria-Megler Bridge plays host to the 36th Annual Great Columbia Crossing 10K Run/Walk. The entire bridge will be closed for the first time for this event, starting at 8:30 a.m. and going until 11 a.m.

All traffic in both directions will be closed to enhance the safety and security for participants, volunteers and motorists.

Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) has jurisdiction over the bridge, coordinating the shutdown with Oregon State Police, Washington Department of Transportation, City of Astoria and the event organizer, the Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce.

ODOT officials said traffic enforcement will not allow vehicles to line up and wait to cross the bridge on either the Washingon side or Oregon side of the bridge. Motorists will be dispersed and directed away from the bridge during the event. A possible detour route during the closure is using the Lewis and Clark Bridge that connects U.S. 30 and SR 4 at Rainier and Longview.

The chamber said in a press release it is urging residents to travel across the bridge before and after the event.

We encourage residents of the area to plan for this and schedule trips over the bridge before or after the event, or on another day, the chamber said.

The chamber is also suggesting that area lodgings allow later check-out times.

ODOT also said the public needs to take note of the closure time and avoid trying to cross the bridge during that time. In order to get the bridge open by 11 a.m., participants still on the bridge at 10:50 a.m. will be picked up by shuttle bus to clear the bridge.

The north Oregon coast landmark is one of the longest bridges in the world, spanning about a mile.

According to ODOT, past events had one lane open with a pilot car controlling two-way traffic. But the 4.1 mile long bridge is narrow and event participants were always running and walking close to moving vehicles. Law enforcement authorities were particularly concerned about the mixing of vehicle traffic and race participants and others.

ODOT will post variable message signs at both ends of the bridge at least one week before the event warning motorists of the closure. TripCheck will also be updated to reflect the closure. Lodging in Astoria/Seaside - 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
Swiss melodic metal band Dreamshade will be touring South Africa for the second time in February 2019. Dreamshade will be supported by special guests Truth & Its Burden plus South African metal bands Facing the Gallows, Savage Lucy, OneDaySky, Last One Alive, Treehouse Burning and Red Helen.

Tour info:

Fernando "Fella" Di Cicco, Guitars, Vocals comments on the tour; "We've been wanting to get to play South Africa since our past tour in 2014. Now the time has finally come. Me and the guys really can't wait to meet all our fans and friends to finally party together big time! Help us spread the word about the tour and prepare to have a great time!" Guitarist Luca Magri adds; "So excited we're heading back to SA once again. I've got great memories since my first ever tour with Dreamshade was the past South African tour and we had a blast! Be there and help us make these shows unforgettable!"13th Feb 2019: Mercury Live  CPT // Truth & Its Burden // Last One Alive //Treehouse Burning15th Feb 2019 :Arcade Empire  PTA //Truth & Its Burden //Facing the Gallows //OneDaySky16th Feb 2019O Rumours Rock City  JHB // Truth & Its Burden //Savage Lucy //Red HelenTickets are available via plankton.mobi
Incubeta is an international team of experts in marketing, technology, data, and creative.
Robert Kyagulanyi, a.k.a Bobi Wine.

We Are Fighting for Freedom is the unofficial anthem of Kamwokya, a slum in Kampala, Uganda, where the musician-turned-politician Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu  whose stage name is Bobi Wine  grew up. Kyagulanyi released the song to express his anger at attempts to amend the constitution to give President Yoweri Museveni yet another term in office, after 32 years in power. The song can be heard through torn curtains and across open sewers, mixing potently with the resolute words Free Bobi, which are sprayed across fragile walls.

The government is terrified of Kyagulanyi. It has clobbered his supporters and journalists, and even imposed an electricity blackout as he was due to appear on Voice of America. The money it has tried to use to bribe Kyagulanyis young supporters from the ghettoes, called the people power movement, betrays its desperation. It lends credence to the idea that Kyagulanyi is on to something bigger than he realises.

In August, he was arrested after his driver, Yasin Kawuma, was shot dead during a local election. The government had been restless over Kyagulanyis ability to turn the tide of an election. Every candidate he endorses wins. After his arrest a military court charged him with unlawful possession of firearms, and the military paraded guns and tried to convince Ugandans the weapons had been found in his hotel room. When it became clear the story didnt add up, the charges were dropped and, emaciated and limping, he was released, after weeks in a military prison. He was handed over to police, charged with treason and held in a civil prison.

His arrest won him international sympathy and put him in the ranks of young Africans challenging the old guards hold on power  alongside Rwandas Diane Rwigara, who at 38 has stood up to Paul Kagames presidency, as well as opposition leaders in South Africa and Zimbabwe. After pressure from social media activists, diplomatic missions and civil society organisations, Kyagulanyi was released on bail after nearly a month.

Please see The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/04/bobi-wine-people-p...
Attorney General Dr Abraham Keetshabe has said that he is not aware of any task team that has been set up to look at possible constitutional review.The purported review was alluded to by Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration Eric Molale in response to a motion by Member of Parliament for Selebi Phikwe West, Dithapelo Keorapetse calling for a review of the constitution.

Parliament rejected the motion. When appearing before Parliamentary Public Accounts, Dr Keetshabe who is the Principal Legal Advisor to Cabinet, said he was hearing news of a constitutional task team for the first time from the committee.When probing the Attorney General, Keorapetse wanted to know if the minister lied to Parliament. There was a motion in Parliament calling for review of the constitution.

The minister then stated that something is being done. He said there is a task team working on something. So I want to know as legal advisor to the executive, what is the progress so far, asked Keorapetse. In response, Dr Keetshabe said he knew nothing about what the legislator has mentioned. So the minister lied, interjected Keorapetse to which Dr Keetshabe stated that as far as he knows he has not rendered any advice to government to review the constitution.

The AG revealed that it is not his role to determine any policy but once the policy is put before him, he advises accordingly by giving effect and meaning to the policy direction that government wants to take. He expressed ignorance of a recent statement by President Mokgweetsi Masisi that the time has come for the constitution to be reviewed so that the president will have powers to choose members of his cabinet outside Parliament.

When presenting the motion in Parliament, Keorapetse had acknowledged the drafters of the current constitution and its role in moulding the countrys democracy, but emphasised that the motion was more focused on cumulating the countrys democracy. He said democracy was a continuum, which like a tree, needed to be nourished and watered to ensure its democratic consolidation.

He said the 1963 to 1964 constitutional talks in Lobatse were dominated by colonial masters and chiefs and few representation of political parties as there were only two political parties then. The 1965 constitution, he said was a template constitution, which was given to Batswana by the then colonial masters, adding that it cannot be referred to as a public policy as it does not reflect divergent views of various members of the society.

The motion to review the countrys constitution, he said, presents an opportunity to legitimise the constitution and empowers Batswana to have ownership to their own constitution as they were not fully involved in the constitution draft in the colonial days.
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...
This years British Chamber awards has recognised a sliding and folding door manufacturer for its exporting prowess.

The awards celebrate the best British businesses, and Durham-based PC Henderson has been announced as a finalist in the UK Export Business of the Year category.

The Export Award aims to shine a spotlight on companies that have generated substantial success in international trade.

Judging criteria for the application takes into account the companys turnover, profit, future objectives, sales by geographical market, strategy for entering new markets and future growth strategy.

The firm will compete against eight others, and the winner will be announced at a gala dinner at Tobacco Dock in London on 29 November.

One company will also crowned Business of the Year and will have the honour of opening the London Stock Exchange when next years programme is opened in March 2019.

Trevor Cossins, Managing Director of PC Henderson, said: The British Chamber Awards is one of the most contested and prestigious award programmes in the UK.

To be announced as a finalist is a huge achievement for us and we see it as an independent seal of approval for the hard work and dedication we put into exporting.

Exporting lies at the heart of everything we do - we take a great deal of time to understand new markets and listen to our overseas customers. This, backed up by high quality manufacturing and a driven and committed team, is what lies behind our success today.
| BY Ricki Green |

Art director Eddie Coghlan from SDWM is representing Australia at the 2017 LIA Creative LIAisons program in Las Vegas, featuring some of the worlds most respected creative directors as speakers. Coghlan reports exclusively for CB.

Today started like most mornings do after 20+ hours of flying, with half open eyes and a dangerous amount of coffee. Luckily the US is no stranger to super sizing so Starbucks had me sorted. After arriving at the luxe Encore hotel we all received a glimpse at the bill for the day.

We had the pleasure of listening to the likes of:

 Ricardo Wolff

 Pum Lefebure

 Matt Eastwood

 Maddie Raedts

 Matt MacDonald

 Malcolm Poynton

Ricardo was the first speaker and it was inspiring to hear a LIAisons alumni tell his tale of going from attendee to the ECD of Innocean Europe, now speaking and judging at the same event where it all started.

Pum Lefebure, the talented CCO from the Design Army, discussed the three aspects to a great design and how it engages people; flirting, romancing and seducing. Flirting being the eye catching nature of the work, romancing the act of communicating the message and seducing the strategic planning. A very interesting view on design (and/or dating).

Next we were given an insight into creating ads without using the traditional mediums. Matt Eastwood discussed that with an ever changing market and the rise of the millennials we need to start creating ads that dont just sell a product or service but actually make a difference in the consumerslives. The examples he presented ranged from swimming prosthetics for Northwell Health to The Touchable Ink for Samsung.

Lunch time meant a visit to Tacos El Gordo, one of the recommendations that I couldnt resist. No frills Mexican is my kind of Mexican.

After the break it was time for the well accomplished Maddie Raedts and her talk on influencer marketing, co-creating and the very first AI influencer which is enough to make you question the world you live in.

Following Maddie came Matt MacDonald, a man that sure can own a presentation about owning presentations. He gave us a very relatable talk on the dos and donts when nailing a pitch. He also shared some creative work he produced for AT&T and then showed us the tools and methods he used to get the client on board with the concept.

Our last speaker was creative legend from across the ditch, Malcolm Poynton. He discussed the WTF ideas and the journey that we take to get there and how it seems crazy but the best answer to the brief. He also went on to talk about how building strong relationships with clients is the key to creative success.
| BY Ricki Green |

Google has today launched a new platform designed to support the creative community with programs, education and tools called Create with Google and has also announced BMF as the winners of The Skippys creative competition.

Now in its 3rd year, the Skippys is a competition for creative makers to make skippable TrueView video ads so compelling that people do not want to skip them. This year, Googles Creative Development team partnered with Mona (Museum of Old & New Art) on the brief for the competition.

Four creative agencies battle it out to be crowned the winner:

This years competition yielded amazing results with all entries beating the average view through rate benchmark by an average of 20%. But there can only be one winner and this year BMF are taking home the trophy (see video here)!

Google is also celebrating Australian creativity with new tools to support local creative makers with launch of Create with Google.

There are thousands of creative makers in Australia producing ads across all platforms. These expert craftspeople and storytellers express brands as memorable personalities, films, campaigns, images, and experiences.

Create with Google is designed to show Makers how to get the most out of digital ads, showing whats possible by showcasing the best work from around the world and inspiring, practical materials to get the creative juices flowing. Current sections include:

Creative Downloads: cut-out-and-keep materials for creative briefs. These printable briefing support materials contain clear, actionable reference materials on the top creative considerations for creating anything on Googles platforms.

Create with Google Pitch Partner mockup tool. This tool is for makers who need to showcase their work to clients and colleagues. The tool allows makers to upload an ad and quickly see how it would appear in-situ from a variety of viewports.

The Inspiration Hub. A collection of hundreds of pieces of work which showcase the best use cases of Googles creative canvas. Filter by format, vertical or platform to inspire your creative thinking.

The Create with Google team is also offering face-to-face training, including today in Sydney where agency leaders are gathering to hear the latest on Google tools.
| BY Kim Shaw |

Scott Zuliani, creative at The Monkeys ~ Campaign Brief 2018 Agency of the Year ~ is representing Australia at the 2018 LIA Creative LIAisons program in Las Vegas, featuring some of the worlds most respected creative directors as speakers. Zuliani reports exclusively for CB.

When I was first told that Campaign Brief was sending me to Las Vegas I was a little confused. Then they told me it was for the London International Awards. I was even more confused  the London International Awards is hosted in Nevada America? What? But, after a couple of days here it all makes sense. Actually, nothing here makes sense* but thats ok. LIA is a truly international award show and Vegas is a truly international city. Where else could you find the Coliseum, the Eiffel Tower, the Sphinx, the Venetian Canals and Korean Elvis, all in spewing distance of each other? And where else would you find a program like the LIA Creative LIAisons with over 100 creatives under 30 from around the world all in spewing distance of each other? What a segue (Actually saw Elvis on a segway the other day, but thats a segue for another day). The Creative LIAisons for those of you not aware of is a program you should be aware of. Its a Five-day one-of-a-kind advertising experience where young-ish creatives listen to incredibly inspiring lectures then get drunk-ish after (all in the name of networking).

Day 1 was inspiring to say the least. To say a bit more  Matt MacDonalds talk on presenting work was eye-opening and incredibly beneficial. He obviously nailed the presentation, after some ironic IT difficulties (no one is immune to the wheel of death). Malcolm Poynton followed the client is not your enemy theme using the Louvres Pyramid story as a kind of architectural analogy for client relationships (you had to be there). Matt Eastwood showed some incredible work and said some incredible stuff about cause-related advertising. Pum Lefebure seduced the audience about seduction in design (all the Art Directors in the room fell in love). Then Maddie Raedts made us all jealous of her young entrepreneurial success, and Riccardo Wolff showed us that we too, could be ECD of INNOCEAN in 7 years to the day. Not that specific role, but we can go on to do great thing tooin 7 years to the day.

Shortly after our brains were buzzing with inspiration, we did the natural thing and killed some brain cells (all in the name of networking) at a cocktail party in a classy joint called The Beach Club. The classy part was sarcastic. It had poles. The kind of poles a much wilder crowd would dance on. At the party, we rubbed shoulders with the LIA Judges (not a euphemism) and mingled with like-minded peers from around the world. The classy joint closed around 12:30 (so much for escaping Sydney lockout laws) so people went to other clubs, some gambled, some cant remember what they did, I went back to Treasure Island (not a euphemism).

Day 2 , like The Hangover sequel, involved a hangover and a similar plot as its precursor. But unlike Hangover 2, Day 2 didnt suck. This was mainly due to the amazing talk by Susan Credle. Susan explained the mindset shift between being a good creative and being a good creative director. Her talk not only inspired the Creative LIAisons but also some of the judges that snuck in at back (Barb Humphries). Susan was a hard talk to follow, but the challenge was met by Sompat Trisadikun who let his country of Thailands hilarious comedy spots do the talking. We did the laughing. We laughed all the way to lunch, had tacos, and come back for a masterclass in all things audio (hosted by radio legends Tom Eymundson, Jill Kershaw and Ralph van Dijk). Andrew Carlson spoke next about whats next in the future of marketing, which was both scary and exciting. Mostly scary for someone like me who loves making Film. 1 hour later we made a film, in an interactive workshop where the guys from Great Guns tasked us to make a 6-second video in the space of a couple of hours. Like The Hangover 2, our video kinda sucked.
| BY Ricki Green |

Many in the ad industry will be saddened to hear of the passing of UK planning guru Charlie Robertson, the founder of the pioneering virtual planning network Red Spider consultancy and former chief strategic officer at Red Cell (later rebranded United).

Robertson, who had also previously worked at BMP, GGT and Bartle Bogle Hegarty, died suddenly on Monday.

Friends and colleagues of Charlies in Sydney are having a drink for him on Thursday October 18 at The Tilbury from 6.30pm. All welcome.

Jan Gooding, the chair of Pamco, said: Charlie was a warm, clever and funny man and, looking back on it, a more thoughtful feminist and sponsor of women than anyone else I met in advertising at the time. When we co-chaired IPA Stage Two together, he was so astonished by the size of his bathroom, he held a Champagne drinks party in it for all the tutors. He fuelled creativity and lateral thinking through his deft humanity, rigorous thinking and light touch.

MT Rainey, the co-founder and former CEO of Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe (later merged into Y&R), said: Charlie was a complete one off. He was a fearless planner and a wonderful storyteller who deployed his weegie forthrightness to devastating persuasive effect. His distinctive big hair topped a great brain and a huge heart. Indefatigably sociable and a great bon viveur he was also a generous mentor and a great friend to many. Our world will be less colourful without him.
| BY Lynchy |

BBDO Japan has promoted Shuhei Isikawa to the position of General Manager. This appointment will see him act as support to Chief Executive, Tony Harris and Managing Director, Hal Ito.

Ishikawa (pictured) is a long-time member of the I&S BBDO Group, having started his career with Proximity Japan. He had previously been the Head of Engagement Planning and has helped spearhead the Agencys ever-expanding role in new communication channels for clients such as Starbucks, Mars, Fitbit and Visa. His new role will see him extend this responsibility supporting Harris in the transformation of BBDO Japans offering.

Tony Harris, Chief Executive of BBDO Japan, said, From the first day that we started BBDO Japan, Shuhei has stood out as a fantastic talent and star performer with a genuine interest in communications and how they can impact on clients business in the new eco-system that we now operate in. He commands incredible respect from his peers and his clients owing to his passion for finding innovative and thoughtful solutions.

He continues, Our mission should always be to surround ourselves with people smarter than ourselves and that is certainly, the outcome of this appointment.
Please note the review below may contain minor spoilers - I've done my best to keep them to a minimum.

Originally making his debut in the less than emphatic Spider-man 3, the symbiote known only as Venom finally gets a standalone outing, with Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer on directorial duties.

Houston we have a problem! A space shuttle in distress hurtles towards Earth, its cargo; a slew of alien creatures - affectionately known as symbiotes - under lock and key, well not for much longer anyway Crashing into pieces somewhere in Malaysia, its crew now dead, undeterred the benefactor of this expedition - Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed) a more sociopathic take on Elon Musk - wishes to claim its prize, unfortunately finding one of the symbiotes has escaped into the wider world.

On the other side of said world - California in fact - Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is an edgy, investigative reporter with his own hit viral show and an adoring girlfriend Anne (Michelle Williams) on his arm. Unfortunately in someones infinite wisdom, the outlet Brock writes for has decided to send their best investigative reporter to do a puff piece on Carlton - a man who has more skeletons in his closet than Jeffrey Dahmer - surely nothing can go wrong then! Oh well, let carnage commence.

Original comic creator Todd McFarlane has a knack for crafting some distinctive looking characters, be they his wholly owned Spawn or Venom when he worked at Marvel in the 80s, I believe they are horror characters situated within a superhero shell of a world. And horror is exactly the genre where Venom shines as a movie. In fact, I think if director Ruben Fleischer and Sony decided to go into full gore territory it would have greatly benefited Venom - creating a more cohesive and unique film - to really sell the terror of this character to an audience, instead of implying or using cutaway edits when things do begin to get a little hairy on screen. But from a consumer point of view, I can understand why they didnt. After all Venom is a movie aimed at the Marvel crowd - one that skew's increasingly younger - so limiting your audience by an age rating might not be the smartest idea - even if it did work for Deadpool. But where Venom definitely does lend itself into that coveted Marvel Cinematic Universe is within the comedy realm; whether it's the numerous one liners or running jokes juxtaposed against Venoms outright horror, the film can be genuinely funny at times, and I could easily see the character fitting right into an Avengers-ilk movie down the line. Where Venom definitely diverges from your usual Marvel fare - well the Disney kind anyway - is the tried and tested formula theyve got down to a science. For me personally this was a bit of a relief, having grown tired in recent years of all Marvel films feeling the same, a palette swap of jokes, powers and cast, its refreshing to have a film with its own identity - even if its a film the suffers a bit in quality because of it. Yes Venom has its share of issues, from a baggy middle act, pacing problems to being very flat at points - which isnt surprising with four different writers over as many years - but its definitely a movie that carves its own place within the Marvel universe, aiming to be closer to Deadpool than say Captain America. Unlike Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool however, the cast in Venom dont exactly set the screen alight. Whilst leading man Tom Hardy nor his supporting I wouldn't deem as terrible, they just don't stand out in any form or fashiom either. You could entirely re-cast Venom and end up with pretty much the same product. As Venom unfolds into its final act, Marvel fans will once again be treated to the usual action catharsis theyve come to expect, with some excellent CG at times, and what feels like a machine gun splatter of slow motion all over the show. One particular moment in fact - involving the merging of symbiotes - definitely did stand out for me, its an image that Ive never really seen done on screen before.

Setting the groundwork for what will likely be superior sequel outings, Venom follow's the typical Marvel origin trend of film creation. But its very unlike most Marvel films you have come to expect; showcasing a blend of horror and comedy that really meshes well together before delving into usual CG schlock that has become a staple of the genre.

If the studio would have delved into full horror Venom could have been something truly special, even if at odds with whatever larger MCU plans that may be afoot. Regardless, Venom finally gets a cinematic showing that surpasses Spider-Man 3 - not like that was hard to do though.
Madison Erhardt

Kelownas Gospel Mission is ready to serve up a scrumptious turkey dinner on Thanksgiving Day Monday.

Staff have been hard at work in the kitchen preparing for weeks.

"We have cooked over 60 turkeys, we have stuffing that we are preparing, 16 hams, 500 pounds of potatoes, cranberry sauce, and mixed veggies," said kitchen co-ordinator Mandy Phillips.

The mission will serve hundreds of guests in a sit-down meal from noon to 6 p.m.

More than 50 volunteers will help out for the day.

"It's a lot of work to put the event on, but when the event actually takes place it just is really nice to walk into the dining room and see everybody really enjoying a meal," Phillips added.

The Mission is fully staffed for Monday, but volunteers are always welcome throughout the week.
Photo: The Canadian Press Matthew de Grood

The father of one of five young people stabbed to death at a Calgary house party in 2014 says the mental health board overseeing the killer's treatment has been insensitive and disrespectful to the victims' families.

Matthew de Grood was charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Zackariah Rathwell, 21; Jordan Segura, 22; Kaitlin Perras, 23; Josh Hunter, 23; and Lawrence Hong, 27. A judge found him not criminally responsible in 2016 because he was suffering from a mental disorder and did not understand his actions were wrong.

The Alberta Review Board decided this week to move de Grood from a secure psychiatric hospital in Calgary to one in Edmonton, where he could be granted unsupervised ground privileges and supervised day passes. It said he could eventually be placed in a halfway house with 24-hour supervision.

Gregg Perras, Kaitlin's father, said the only part of the board's decision he agreed with was to move de Grood to Edmonton, where more treatment options are available.

He said victims are "unimportant and forgotten" in a process that is meant to balance public safety with the interests of someone deemed not criminally responsible.

"The Alberta Review Board, who is supposed to be impartial, unbiased and inquisitorial, was insensitive and disrespectful to the victims at the most recent hearing," Perras said in an email Thursday.

Psychiatrist Sergio Santana, who heads de Grood's treatment team, testified at the hearing last month that his patient is fully participating in his treatment and is trying to do the right thing.

That prompted jeers from family members of the victims and a sharp rebuke from the board chair.

"The lack of respect continued into the body of the disposition where the board implies that the victims are not informed reasonable people and do not represent the views of the public," Perras wrote.

"The board also wrote that the concerns, fears and anger of the victims are not significant to the outcome for de Grood. The logical conclusion from this is that the victim impact statements do not matter and therefore the victims do not matter."

The review board noted in its decision that the victims' families have strong views about what should happen to de Grood and agreed with the Crown's submission at the hearing that the anger and fear were palpable. Victims' loved ones have said de Grood should be institutionalized indefinitely and deemed high-risk.

"While the victims are members of the public, they do not constitute the body politic of the public," the board wrote. "It is the safety of the public at large that is to be considered, and that body should be presumed to consist of rational and reasonable individuals who being fully informed will act reasonably."
Photo: The Canadian Press

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says dairy farmers will be compensated for their expected losses under the new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.

Trudeau met privately with dairy representatives in downtown Montreal amid concerns in the industry that they're bearing the brunt under the recently concluded free-trade pact.

Canadian dairy farmers stand to lose 3.59 per cent of their market to U.S. producers under the new trade deal, known as USMCA.

"That's why we're going to be working with them over the coming weeks and months to figure out exactly what is the compensation they need," Trudeau said after touring the offices of Montreal company Seville Films.

"How we can ensure not just that they're OK, but that they continue to have confidence in the future of the dairy sector in Canada."

The USMCA is the third free-trade agreement in which Canada has agreed to open access to its supply-managed sectors, this time including increased access for eggs, chicken and turkey.

While touting USMCA as a good deal for Canadians by securing access to its largest trading partner and the largest market in the world, Trudeau acknowledged those sacrifices.

"They told me they were worried," Trudeau said of his meeting with milk producers. "They told me they felt they have continued to give through a number of trade deals they've signed, and they're right."

For example, under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership  with 10 countries including Mexico, Japan and Australia  dairy farmers ceded 3.25 per cent of the market.

Dairy Farmers of Canada president Pierre Lampron wasn't satisfied with what he heard.

"We recognize the symbolism of the gesture of Prime Minister Trudeau in offering to meet with our industry to hear our concerns firsthand," he said in a statement. "However, the absence of details on measures to mitigate the impact of the concessions made within the USMCA, as well as the absence of a vision for the future of our industry at this time, cannot appease the concerns of the dairy farmers."

Raymond Bachand, Quebec's chief free-trade negotiator during the recently concluded negotiations, said the number one objective for Quebec was to preserve access to the American market and that was done.

"However, Ottawa has sold a portion of the milk market and it is clear that it hurts when added to European (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement) and the TPP deals," Bachand said on the sidelines of a metallurgical conference.

"This is eight to 10 per cent of the market. Producers are right to be dissatisfied. But it's not just compensation, but also strategic thinking to see how we make our businesses more competitive."
Photo: File photo

A street-level drug dealer has pleaded guilty to selling drugs which were connected to the overdose death of a 13-year-old girl.

The youth suspect, who cannot be named because of his age, entered a guilty plea Sept. 24 to one count of trafficking in a controlled substance.

On July 15, 2017 two teens purchased MDMA from a street-level drug dealer at the 22nd Skytrain Station in New Westminster.

The teens were returning to their residence in Port Coquitlam when the 13 year old went into medical distress and later died in hospital.

Toxicology results later confirmed the 13 year old died of a lethal overdose of MDMA.

The NWPD Street Crime Unit conducted a lengthy investigation, and with the assistance of the Coquitlam RCMP, Transit Police and the Vancouver Police, a suspect was arrested and charged.

This was a tragic and heartbreaking case. We hope that the family of the 13-year-old girl is able to get some sense of closure and peace after this very challenging time, said Sgt. Jeff Scott. We encourage all parents to have an open dialogue with their teenagers about the risk of drug use. The NWPD Child and Youth Resource Unit works with youth and families to understand these risks.

Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 15, 2019.
Photo: Pixabay

Cellular towers planned to be built in the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen boundaries now will need development application signs to be placed on their proposed sites.

RDOS board members voted in favour of the new requirement on Thursday, which staff recommended will contribute to the public consultation process for cell tower developments.

As well, regional district staff said the new rule "is similar to the RDOS requirement for a rezoning or temporary use permit application."

The development signage will need to be clearly visible from roadways and include information on the proposal and contact details. Proof of the signage will also be required.

"One business in particular said 'you made us put up a site-specific rezoning sign, but directly across the road from us you're not making them put up a sign to tell us what might be coming," RDOS board chair Karla Kozakevich said. "It was a valid point, and I think this makes it more transparent to the public."

Federal approval from Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada is needed for all cell tower developments in the country, and federal guidelines ask for a letter of concurrence or non-concurrence from local governments.

The RDOS created a policy in 2015 for public consultation on cell towers, which includes notifying landowners within one kilometre of their proposed sites as well as holding a public meeting and posting two advertisements in newspapers. The decision on Thursday is meant to take consultation a step further.

West Bench director Michael Brydon asked if the RDOS could use CivicReady  its mass notification system  to send out notices to devices about controversial development proposals like cell towers.

The CivicReady program is currently used to inform of evacuation alerts for residents signed up for it, and regional district staff said it could be done, noting the system is meant to be used for "emergencies and regular communication."
Photo: Contributed

A large sum of cash has been returned to its owner after it was mistakenly handed over to a local charity.

In August, more than $1,000 was discovered inside a donated item. The non-profit held onto the cash, thinking the owner would return, but when they didn't, the money was turned over to police.

Kelowna RCMP says a man did show up at the detachment in late August or early September, with a similar story. And, thanks to sharing the story with media on Tuesday, police say the money is now back with its rightful owner.

Late Wednesday afternoon, the proper owner re-attended the front counter of the downtown Kelowna RCMP detachment, with relief to claim his well over $1,000 in cash, said Cpl. Jesse ODonaghey.

The man, who wished to remain anonymous, was said to be ecstatic.

Police thanked local media, and said the man intends to reach out the charity and support their cause.
Photo: Contributed

A former church elder and current bus driver is facing two sex-related charges and police believe there may be more victims out there.

Brian Batke, 72, from Surrey, has been charged with one count of sexual assault and one count of sexual exploitation.

The allegations stem from incidents which occurred in 2005 and were reported to police in 2017. At the time of these occurrences, the victim was a youth.

Batke was a member of the Cloverdale Christian Fellowship Church from its inception and ended his association with the church in 2005. He has been a bus driver with Coast Mountain Bus Company for approximately 13 years.

RCMP Cpl. Elenore Sturko said details of Batkes employment and his role in the community are being made public because of their relevance to the allegations against him.

Investigators believe there may be further victims who had contact with Batke at the church or as a bus passenger, who have not yet spoken with police.

Speaking with police about a sexual assault can be daunting and takes courage, said Sturko. Our investigators are aware of how difficult this process can be for people. We approach our investigations with care and compassion including the assistance of our victim services support workers.

There is a publication ban in place to protect the identity of the victim and police will not be releasing any further details in order to keep the integrity of the investigation.

Anyone who would like to speak with police regarding the investigation can call Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502.
Photo: Contributed

RCMP confirm they are investigating a rape allegedly involving a UBC Okanagan student.

While friends of the victim claim the assault happened on campus last Friday, UBCO staff say they believe the incident did not happen on university grounds.

"An investigation is underway. It remains active ... and is ongoing at this time," Cpl. Jesse O'Donaghey said Thursday.

He did not confirm where the alleged rape took place.

"As with any matter, RCMP will deal directly with the individual or individuals directly impacted. The RCMP take reports of sexual assault and allegations of other related sexual offences very seriously."

University relations spokesman Bud Mortenson said Wednesday night: "We are not able to comment on details due to student privacy requirements ... our understanding is the alleged incident did not take place on campus."

RCMP remind students and the public that If they have been a victim of any crime, they are strongly encouraged to contact police right away.
Photo: CTV

British Columbia's former children's advocate says the inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women needs to hold all governments accountable.

Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond told the inquiry that its final report will end up collecting dust if recommendations aren't acted upon. She says people always endorse recommendations when final reports are released, but enthusiasm usually wanes over time.

Turpel-Lafond says she conducted numerous investigations into the child welfare system in British Columbia and called it a humanitarian crisis.

She told the hearing the current child welfare system is not appropriate for Indigenous children and says it often causes them more harm.

The inquiry is holding hearings in Winnipeg this week focused on child welfare.

Turpel-Lafond, the director of the UBC Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre, said the disproportionate violence affecting Indigenous women and girls is linked with the child welfare system.

From 2001 to 2014, homicide rates for Indigenous women were six times higher than homicides involving non-Indigenous women.

"Families and women, in particular, have been impacted by not only the residential school system but the child welfare system. Families have been so broken and need to be able to be supported to repair," she told the inquiry Thursday.

"This is one that requires a lot of urgency because there are large bureaucracies that need to change."

Indigenous children make up more than half the kids in care but account for about seven per cent of all kids in Canada. In Manitoba, Indigenous children make up nearly 90 per cent of kids in care.
The "blood-curdling screams" of pigs inside a slaughterhouse were captured on video as activist group Okanagan Animal Save held a vigil outside the Salmon Arm facility on Monday.

The disturbing video was shot outside Rocana Meats, and although you can't see the pigs, the animals' squealing leaves little to the imagination.

"We stood in solidarity, listening to the pigs' blood-curdling screams, calling out for help and mercy," said activist Amy Soranno.

The group claims the slaughtering process is slow and painful.

"These pigs are forced to breathe in CO2 gas ... until they are unconscious, but their hearts are still beating. They dont die until their throats are slit and they bleed out," the group posted on its Facebook page.

Castanet has reached out to Rocana for clarification on the slaughtering process.

"We want to shed light to the truths behind these oppressive industries  to show consumers what theyre truly paying for when they choose to eat animal products," Soranno added.
Photo: Melissa Graf Solar panels being hoisted to the roof on the 232 Big Horn Cadets hanger in Oliver Thursday

Thirty-eight solar panels were hoisted to the roof of the 232 Big Horn Cadets hanger at the Oliver airport Thursday, which should save the group thousands of dollars a year.

Every penny saved, we can use those funds towards our programming, squadron chairperson Melissa Graf said.

Summerlands Swiss Solar is carrying out the install at cost, and completed the full solar array Thursday, even though the cadets have so far only raised partial funds for the project. The squadron will work to fundraise over the coming months to pay down the remainder.

Swiss Solar says the grid-tied solar photovoltaic system will generate 12,864.7 kWh of electricity per year and save about $1,500 annually.

Graf said the project was partially inspired by a solar array on the Oliver food bank, and was suggested to them by another community member.

She said they struggled with the large upfront cost at first, but decided to pull the trigger with the greater-community in mind.

Our building is used for the youth in our area as well, we consider ourselves a low-cost venue for youth groups, she said.

We are really on a shoestring budget when we are operating. Really scrounging for every dollar it sounds good that we are the air cadet squadron and supported by the Department of National Defence, but theyve cut back, she added, explaining they are grateful for the support they receive from the Legions in Oliver, Osoyoos and OK Falls.

There are currently 27 cadets in the program right now. Information on how to donate to the program can be found here.
Photo: Facebook

An assignment that asked students at a high school in Kamloops to identify the political leanings of racists and immigration opponents showed a bias against people with right-wing views, says a father whose son was given the worksheet.

Matt deFouw said he took his concerns about the worksheet to the Kamloops-Thompson School District, which launched an investigation.

B.C.'s Education Ministry said in a statement Thursday the worksheet is not part of the school curriculum and it will not be used again in the district.

"Essentially, all the questions on only one piece of paper paint people, even right-of-centre people, as xenophobic, misogynist racists who want to enact a brutal police state that wiretaps and executes its citizens," deFouw said in an interview.

He posted the worksheet from his son's Grade 10 social studies class on his Facebook page. The school district confirmed that it was part of an assignment at Valleyview Secondary School.

"One question is, 'Who is a racist?' " said deFouw. "And the answer is right-wing people. That's about as clear as you need to be. Another example of a question was, 'Who believes that women should stay home and be mothers?' The answer is right wing."

The assignment included 10 questions. DeFouw's Facebook post included the answers provided to the students by their teacher.

Those on the left wing were identified as "A person who believes that Canada should send aid to Third World countries" and "A person who believes that the school strap should be abolished."

The district released a statement from the school principal dated Oct. 2 that was sent to deFouw. It says there was a meeting with the teacher and "although there was no intent to cause confusion for students, the teacher acknowledged that the Social Studies worksheet did not present a balanced view of the political spectrum and it was an over simplification of a very complex issue."

Bill Hamblett, the school district's assistant superintendent, said its investigation is ongoing and will include interviews with the teacher and the student.

"Racism doesn't belong to one political stripe," said Hamblett. "We're well aware of that."

He said he hadn't heard from the Education Ministry that the worksheet should not be used again, but "if they are saying that, that makes sense."

DeFouw said officials from the school district spoke with his son Thursday and he's pleased his concerns were taken seriously.
Photo: The Canadian Press

The president of Interpol, a former senior Chinese security official, has been reported missing after he travelled to his native country at the end of September, a French judicial official said Friday.

Meng Hongwei's wife reported Friday that she had not heard from her 64-year-old husband since he left Lyon, France, where Interpol is based, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of an ongoing investigation.

The French official said Meng did arrive in China. There was no further word on Meng's schedule in China or what prompted his wife to wait until now to report his absence.

In a statement, Interpol said it was aware of reports about Meng's disappearance and added "this is a matter for the relevant authorities in both France and China." The statement noted that Interpol's secretary general, and not its president, is responsible for the international police agency's operations.

News of the investigation into Meng's disappearance came during a weeklong public holiday in China. In Beijing, the foreign and public security ministries did not immediately respond to calls and faxed requests for comment Friday.

Meng was elected president of Interpol in November 2016. His term runs until 2020.

He has held a variety of positions within China's security establishment, including as a vice minister of public security  the national police force  since 2004. In the meantime, he served as head and deputy head of branches of the coast guard, all while holding positions at Interpol.

Meng's duties in China would have put him in close proximity to former leaders, some of whom had fallen afoul of President Xi Jinping's sweeping crackdown on corruption. In particular, Meng likely dealt extensively with former security chief Zhou Yongkang, who is now serving a life sentence for corruption.
Photo: The Canadian Press

A deeply divided Senate pushed Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination past a key procedural hurdle Friday, setting up a likely final showdown this weekend in a spellbinding battle that's seen claims of long-ago sexual assault by the nominee threaten President Donald Trump's effort to tip the court rightward for decades.

The Senate voted 51-49 to limit debate, effectively defeating Democratic efforts to scuttle the nomination with endless delays and nearing the climax of a fight that has captivated the country since summer. With Republicans controlling the chamber 51-49, one Republican voted to stop the nomination, one Democrat to send it further.

Of the four lawmakers who had not revealed their decisions until Friday  all moderates  Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Jeff Flake of Arizona voted yes, as did Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Republican Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted not to move the nomination ahead.

While the vote was a victory for the GOP, lawmakers can vote differently on the climactic confirmation roll call, and Collins told reporters she would announce later Friday how she would go. That left unclear whether Friday's tally signalled that the 53-year-old federal appellate judge was on his way to the nation's highest court, though it would be unusual for lawmakers to switch their votes on such a high-profile issue.

Confirmation would be a crowning achievement for Trump, his conservative base and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Murkowski sat solemnly during the roll call and whispered "No" when it was her turn to vote. As the tally neared an end, she spoke with Collins, a Democratic friend. Both were surrounded by colleagues from both parties after the vote.

All four lawmakers who'd been undeclared said little or nothing to reporters as they left the chamber.

Trump weighed in shortly after the roll call was announced, tweeting, "Very proud of the U.S. Senate for voting 'YES' to advance the nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh!"

Vice-President Mike Pence, who could have broken a 50-50 tie, watched the vote from the White House. He is heading to New York for a congressional fundraiser Friday but planned to be back in Washington for the final vote.
Photo: The Canadian Press Dr. Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad

An Iraqi woman who became a global advocate for victims after being raped and tortured by Islamic State militants and a Congolese surgeon who has treated countless rape victims in his war-torn nation won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for fighting to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.

Dr. Denis Mukwege was in surgery  his second operation of the day  at the hospital that he founded in 1999 in Congo's eastern Bukavu region when the announcement came Friday that he and Nadia Murad had won the prestigious prize. He learned of it because he heard colleagues and patients crying at the news.

The 63-year-old gynecological surgeon said for nearly 20 years he has witnessed war crimes "against women, teenage girls, small girls, babies."

"Dear survivors around the world, I want to tell you that through this prize the world is listening to you and refuses indifference," he said. "We hope that the world will no longer delay taking action in your favour, with force and determination, because the survival of humanity depends on you. It's you women who carry humanity."

Murad was one of an estimated 3,000 Yazidi girls and women kidnapped in 2014 by IS militants in Iraq and sold into sex slavery. At 19, she was raped, beaten and tortured before managing to escape after three months. After getting treatment in Germany, she chose to speak to the world about the horrors faced by Yazidi women, regardless of the stigma in her culture surrounding rape.

At 23, she was named the U.N.'s first Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking.

This year's peace prize announcement comes amid a heightened attention to the sexual abuse of women  in war, in the workplace and in society  that has been highlighted by the "#MeToo" movement.

"We want to send a message that women who constitute half the population in those communities actually are used as weapons and that they need protection, and that the perpetrators have to be prosecuted and held responsible," said Berit Reiss-Andersen, chairwoman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

"#MeToo and war crimes is not quite the same thing, but they do, however, have in common that it is important to see the suffering of women," she said.

Rights advocates were thrilled with the choice of this year's winners.

"Dr. Mukwege brings smiles and helps repair women from the barbaric acts of men in Congo," said Solange Furaha Lwashiga, a Congolese women's activist.

"We're talking (about) two ordinary citizens, at one level, who show that ordinary people can do extraordinary things. And they've shown a kind of political will that we're not seeing in our political leaders right now to make a difference," said Kumi Naidoo, head of Amnesty International.

Many of the women treated by Mukwege were victims of gang rape in the central African nation that has been wracked by conflict for decades. Armed men tried to kill him in 2012, forcing him to temporarily leave the country.

"This particular type of war crime has been more invisible, because the victims have such a stigma and no one is willing to speak up on their behalf," Reiss-Andersen told The Associated Press.

Both honorees are the first from their countries to receive a Nobel Prize and will split the award, which is worth 9 million Swedish kronor ($1.01 million).

After the announcement, mobile phone footage showed a smiling Mukwege jostled by dancing, ululating medical colleagues in scrubs in the hospital's courtyard.

Eastern Congo has seen more than two decades of conflict among armed groups that either sought to unseat presidents or simply grab control of some the central African nation's vast mineral wealth.

"The importance of Dr. Mukwege's enduring, dedicated and selfless efforts in this field cannot be overstated. He has repeatedly condemned impunity for mass rape and criticized the Congolese government and other countries for not doing enough to stop the use of sexual violence against women as a strategy and weapon of war," the Nobel committee said.

Murad's book, "The Last Girl," tells of her captivity, the loss of her family and her eventual escape.

The Yazidis are an ancient religious minority, falsely branded as devil-worshippers by Sunni Muslim extremists. IS, adopting a radical interpretation of ancient Islamic texts, declared that Yazidi women and even young girls could be taken as sex slaves.

Iraqi President Bahram Saleh praised the award for Murad, saying on Twitter that it was an "honour for all Iraqis who fought terrorism and bigotry."
Photo: Twitter

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canadians gave his government a mandate in the last election to implement a national carbon price, and that is exactly what it is going to do.

"Pollution should not be free anywhere across this country," Trudeau said Friday at an event in Windsor, Ont.

His comments came after provincial opposition to the carbon price plan gained even more strength this week when Manitoba did a sudden about-face on its intention to impose a $25-per-tonne carbon price this fall.

Manitoba Premier Brian Pallister said he was backing off because he couldn't get Ottawa to promise it won't force the province to raise the price or risk the federal government imposing its own on top.

Ottawa passed legislation last spring to give it authority to impose a carbon price on any province without its own beginning January 1, 2019. It is starting at a minimum of $20 per tonne, rising $10 per year until 2022.

All provinces were to submit their plans for federal review by Sept. 1, and Environment Minister Catherine McKenna told The Canadian Press recently the reviews are still underway. Any province that doesn't meet the federal standard will be subject to a federal carbon price on most fuel sources, like gasoline and natural gas, and big emitters have to join an industrial program that caps emissions by industry and charges the carbon price on emissions above those caps.

When the legislation was introduced as part of the budget implementation bill in March, it seemed as if Saskatchewan may be the only province where it would be needed. Premier Scott Moe is asking the courts to decide if Ottawa has jurisdiction to impose a carbon tax on his province against its will.

Ontario's new Progressive Conservative government under Premier Doug Ford scrapped that province's cap-and-trade system in July and launched his own legal challenge of Ottawa's plan.

The blueprint Prince Edward Island submitted did not include a carbon tax and Premier Wade MacLauchlan says his province has a plan to meet its emissions reduction targets without one.

New Brunswick's government is in flux following the recent election, but current Premier Brian Gallant intends to try to rename a portion of the existing gas tax in lieu of a new carbon tax, and Tory leader Blaine Higgs, who could become premier, says he refuses a carbon price and will join the lawsuit if he takes office.

Even Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, who introduced her own carbon price system before Ottawa required it, is now refusing to raise it in line with federal requirements because Alberta is irritated the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is in limbo. Alberta United Conservative Party Leader Jason Kenney, the front-runner to win the Alberta election next year, has promised to scrap the Alberta carbon price entirely if he is elected.

Newfoundland has not made public the contents of its carbon plan proposal submitted to Ottawa.

That leaves, at the moment, just Quebec and British Columbia. Quebec's incoming premier Francois Legault, whose Coalition Avenir Quebec party won a majority government on Monday, intends to maintain Quebec's cap-and-trade system. B.C.'s NDP government under Premier John Horgan already has a carbon tax of $35 per tonne, raising it $5 last spring. B.C. has had a carbon tax since 2008.

Despite the fractured provincial landscape, Trudeau will not be dissuaded.

"We have decided as a government, and Canadians asked us to do this in 2015, that we are going to put a price on pollution," he said Friday.

Climate change is the "most economic and social challenges and geographic challenges of our time," he added.
Writing projects have been consuming me over the past few weeks  a special issue in March upcoming, and many featured Apollo stories you will see shortly. I am FINALLY able to catch up on a little blogging. Here goes:

Last month I had the distinct pleasure of taking my friend Brian May, astronomer and founding member and guitarist of Queen, to Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. Discovering that I would be in the area, and so would he, we decided to rendezvous for a several-day-long excursion to visit some astronomical sites. Queen were busy playing a residency in Las Vegas, but Brian had a several-day window for astronomy and relaxation. So Michael Bakich and I traveled to Vegas and saw the magnificent Queen concert on September 7th. A day later, poof  we were in Arizona.

On one night we had the chance to observe Mars, Uranus, and a variety of star clusters and planetary nebulae  M15, the Dumbbell Nebula, the Ring Nebula, and others  ably led by our telescope operators and by one of the worlds expert deep-sky observers, old friend Brian Skiff. Astronomer Gerard van Belle also joined us, as well as observatory staff members Samantha Gorney and Stephen Riggs. We were also joined by Astronomys expert travel guru from TravelQuest, Cody Carter.

We also thoroughly explored Lowell and its history, led by Kevin Schindler, the observatorys resident historian. We pulled the Pluto B Plate from its secure hiding place, standing mesmerized over one of the two glass plates on which Pluto was discovered. We explored the intricacies of the Pluto Telescope, with which Clyde Tombaugh took the plates on which he discovered Pluto. We saw all manner of treasures in the observatory archives, including my favorite  the Slipher spectrograph, with which V.M. Slipher discovered the expansion of the universe and the interstellar medium.

And the fun went on and on. Here is a sampling of images shot during our visit. Ill share some more from this trip as soon as I get a few more words down on paper!
Ongoing FEMA has closed some of its Disaster Recovery Centers (DRC), established last month to assist residents and businesses whose property was damaged by Tropical Storm Ida. However, face-to-face assistance is still available. Residents can find their nearest DRC online at fema.gov/drc,...
Soddy Daisy City Manager Janice Cagle on Thursday night introduced Jeff Gann as the city's new chief of police. He is replacing Chief Phillip Hamrick who retired two weeks ago. Chief Gann has been in the Soddy Daisy Police Department for 21 years, and has served as acting police chief during the two years when Police Chief Hamrick was deployed by military service.

Ms. Cagle said that the new chief is known to be a hard worker and takes advantage of any training that is available. He is a member of multiple law enforcement organizations. He represents our city so well, she said.

During the heavy rain and flooding in Soddy Daisy last week, the citys employees all pitched in to help citizens who were affected. The city manager commended and thanked the fire, police and public works departments for working so well together.

Each commissioner that spoke following Ms. Cagle to echo her comments. We have so much respect for all our employees, said Commissioner Gene Shipley. He said the way that the community helped one another was a blessing and that he was fortunate to live in Soddy Daisy.

Commissioner Rick Nunley also expressed thanks to the employees of Soddy Daisy and for the help that came from Dallas Bay, the city of East Ridge, Sale Creek and Bradley County. Mayor Robert Cothran said that the excellent employees make the commissioners jobs easier. He said, Thank you for making Soddy Daisy, the city it is today.

Fire Chief Mike Guffey estimated that during the flood between 20 and 30 water rescues had been made, some by city employees and some by private citizens. He said that 63 houses had been affected in some manner and that 39 houses had been damaged by water getting under their foundations. Of those, 12 are considered to have major structural damage and another 12 to have minor damage. A dollar estimate of the damage has not yet been determined. He, too, praised the public works department and the police, saying they jumped in the water and got people out without being asked to do it. County and state elected officials and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) has also been very helpful, he said.

Hamilton County Emergency Preparedness put the number of affected homes at 85.

Commissioner Shipley announced a work day that has been planned for Saturday to make repairs due to the flood. The city has hired contractors with machinery that can be used to move mounds of soil caused by the floodwater and pick up litter out of yards. Also, grass seed and straw has been donated to the city. He asked for volunteers to assist in the work. Anyone who can help should meet at the intersection of Depot and Durham Streets at 8 a.m. Saturday.
After years of regulatory roadblocks and lower-than-expected demand in Illinois medical cannabis pilot program, growers around the state are expanding to accommodate a patient count that is only expected to increase. A state report out earlier this week found that use of medical pot has risen 83 percent this year in Illinois, which has more than 46,000 qualified patients. Additionally, Gov. Bruce Rauner signed a bill into law in late August that allows people prescribed opioids to use medical marijuana.
As the company gets smaller and looks for ways to cut costs, we continue to evaluate all areas of our cost structure and pursue measures to achieve cost savings, including greater consolidation of the Sears and Kmart corporate and support functions, spokesman Larry Costello said in an email. We do not take these decisions lightly, but they are a necessary part of our efforts to transform the company and return it to profitability.
"We are open to any and all ideas that helps us get these deaths to zero because we don't want to continue to see any increases, and we understand the importance of managing transportation options for mobility and safety for everyone in our community," King said.
It starts with an Instagram message telling you to head to a secret location in Wicker Park. You get there and wonder where exactly you are  a quiet residential street doesnt seem like the right place for the big ol veal Parmesan sandwich you spent weeks eyeing on your newsfeed. And then out of the corner of your eye, you see a guy with an impressive neckbeard call out to his gaggle of friends, Yeah, the sandwich is just up this walk-up. Bingo.
Here is a block of fat. It's a pristine, arctic white, interlaced with streaks of red beef. It's marbling gone wild, a sight so beautiful it destroys your retinas if you stare too long. And here I was spellbound by the Wagyu steak in its raw state, at a teppanyaki restaurant in Kyoto, feeling unworthy.

Growing up, Friday nights were always Steak Night. Mom would throw $3 chuck steaks into a frying pan along with a knife-scrape of margarine, and the kitchen would turn into a culinary tire fire, choked with the smoke of fried beef and black pepper. Perfunctory as they were, the steaks placed a full stop and exclamation point to the school week. It gave my sister and me something to look forward to after Broccoli Wednesdays.



Steak Night also instilled in me an expectation regarding beef that remained until I was struck dumb that day in Japan. The epiphany: What I considered palatable was merely passable, and that real beef should taste of beef, bold and assertive, not the meek, gray matter cooked three notches beyond well done. That I was hard-wired to smell steak and lunge for the A-1 sauce should have been a clue.



And before me, at the age of 16 inside the Kyoto hotel restaurant, was a magnificent piece of Kobe beef from the Wagyu cattle. On first contact with tongue, Wagyu leaves no doubt that what you're tasting is the most delicious beef in the world, heretofore and ad infinitum. It tasted like a thin sliver of fresh butter dissolving on the palate. I'll risk reputation to say nothing  nothing!  could taste better or elicit a more drawn-out Oh  my  God  than Wagyu beef, seared a medium rare, dabbed with one drop of ponzu citrus-soy.



But let's burst the bubble now. You won't find the beef in the U.S., not since April 2010 anyway. There has been a ban on Japanese beef imports because of a foot-and-mouth disease outbreak in Japan (though there are rumors of the ban's lifting soon). So no restaurant in Chicago currently can replicate that intense, druglike beef rush I experienced on my Kyoto trip so many years ago, but how close can I come to approximating that one bite?



Thirty minutes from downtown Chicago, Jack Binion's Steak House in the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond (777 Casino Center Drive, Hammond, Ind., 219-473-6028) was one of the few area restaurants that once imported Japanese Kobe beef. The restaurant is an anachronism of Sinatra soundtracks and tableside salads, with high rollers bankrolling $95 for one Kobe rib-eye. Before the ban, a thousand people a year ordered the Japanese beef, chef Paul Chartrand told me.



"You won't get that grassy or gaminess as in American cattle," Chartrand said of Kobe. "It's fork tender and melts in your mouth, almost like foie gras. The flavor just doesn't compare to any American cattle we have."



What Jack Binion's now serves is American-raised Wagyu from Mishima Ranch in Northern California, an 8-ounce rib-eye at $54. Shipping costs aside, there's a reason why Japanese Wagyu costs twice as much as the American version, and you can taste it. Still, pit American Wagyu against the finest American corn-fed beef side by side and the contrast is just as pronounced. Wagyu just tastes superior.



The restaurant's Signature Steak Tasting Plate ($55) does just that. The Nebraska "28-day wet aged" spinalis (the coveted crescent-shaped cut of the rib-eye) has an appealing mineral taste, livery almost, compared with the incomparably moist, sweet and mellow flavors of the American Wagyu rib-eye. The Nebraskan tastes masculine, the Wagyu feminine. The latter's texture is like a filet mignon's, tender enough to slice with the butter knife. Steak sauce would be heretical.



I tried not to use barbecue sauces with the Wagyu beef brisket at Chicago Q (1160 N. Dearborn St., 312-642-1160), the posh barbecue sit-down in the Gold Coast. I've had lesser cuts of meat (and poorer execution) that tasted of wood smoke against a neutral canvas  that I was tasting beef was lost on me.



But chef Lee Ann Whippen has a Wagyu brisket ($19.75 for dinner) with such high intramuscular marbling, its beefy richness stands up to her five-wood, 14-hour smoking process. In the finished product I saw distinct lines of marbled glistening that coated my lips with rich bovine balm  a dining partner likened its richness to eating an ice cream sundae.



This idea that Wagyu cattle are beer-fed and pampered with daily massages is a nice promotional ploy, but largely false. What makes Wagyu beef taste better is the fat, less waxy with a lower melting temperature (77 degrees Fahrenheit) than its non-Wagyu brethren. If you slosh thin slices of Wagyu through a Japanese shabu shabu hot pot, the fat strands turn translucent, and the beef remains juicy even cooked to medium-well. Compared with American breeds, Wagyu cattle genetically have a higher ratio of monounsaturated-to-saturated fatty acids, meaning more of the healthier kind of fat.



Still, its intense buttery profile means Wagyu should only be consumed in small quantities. A 20-ounce Wagyu porterhouse would be a regrettable decision, even for the most voracious gluttons.



Gyu-Kaku, the West Coast chain of Japanese tabletop yakiniku grills, recently opened two blocks from my office in River North (210 E. Ohio St., 312-266-8929), and I paid a visit one afternoon. I sat alone at a corner table and ordered the $30 Wagyu rib-eye, a piece of steak that arrived so unfairly thin, I just stared silently at it for a minute with pursed lips. But in this gas-grilled application, its slightness is justified  the quarter-inch slices require no more than 30 seconds cooking per side (per explicit instructions). This was a beef where chewing diminishes the experience, where the feeling of the palate gently awash with melting steak should be forefront.



The steak, seasoned with just sea salt, black pepper and divided into eight squares, finishes with a squeeze of lemon juice, cutting into its incomparable richness. This is "savoring" beef, beef that makes you subconsciously close your eyes while tasting.



Five minutes later, it ends too soon. At that price, you realize with Wagyu you're paying for the taste experience, and not to satiate appetite.



Postscript: The closest I've come to replicating that one bite of Japanese Kobe beef isn't found at a restaurant, but the meat aisle at Arlington Heights' Mitsuwa Marketplace (100 E. Algonquin Road, Arlington Heights, 847-956-6699). The market's beef is branded as "Washugyu," and my favorite cut is the short rib yakiniku  intensely fatty strips for $26.98 a pound. I season the meat lightly with salt and pepper, fry it in a skillet with no oil for 30 seconds on each side, then finish with a squeeze of lemon juice or ponzu sauce. You won't taste beef more delicious this year.



kpang@tribune.com



Detailing my beef with use of the 'Kobe' label



The Kobe/Wagyu name game is the biggest charade perpetrated on American diners since white chocolate bore the word "chocolate." Menu writers love throwing the more-marketable "Kobe" term around, even when it's not. Kobe burgers, Kobe meatloaf, Kobe brisket  these terms are somewhat misleading. Kobe beef comes from Wagyu cattle, but not all Wagyu cattle can be called Kobe. It's the same principle that says Champagne comes only from its namesake region in France; everywhere else it's sparkling wine. To be certified Kobe beef, it must originate from the Hyogo prefecture in Western Japan. Almost all Wagyu served in this country since April 2010 was raised in America or Australia.
"When I was a little boy, every time my uncle made his famous pretzels, he made sure to bring a big bag over to our family, until I asked him one day to show me how he makes them, he said. It has always been my wish to spread the gospel, so to speak, and share my talent of making pretzels. As soon as my daughters, Barbara and Elizabeth, were able to reach the counter standing on a chair, they became my trusted baking assistants. My uncle has long passed on, but his recipe lives on."
The evening opened with a vigorous but unhurried account of Beethovens Overture to Egmont, performed with keen attention to details of dynamics and voicing. This was a rousing curtain-raiser for Beethovens Piano Concerto No. 3, in C Minor, pianist David Fray viewing the work not as a look back toward Mozart but ahead toward later Beethoven. Notwithstanding this performances romantic thrust, Fray took great care in matters of articulation, phrase and tone, though a bit less generous use of the sustaining pedal would have been welcome.
Im left feeling a bit less satisfied, however, by the dancing. Of the three performers, Munyaneza incorporates the most movement, writhing and tipping her head back with each vocal tick, pounding her elbows against Clarkes corrugated mural, which is amplified to make a glorious boom as its struck by the petite Munyaneza. She tiptoes and squats on the edge of a second Clarke piece laid down in the upstage space. Toward the end she makes a superfluous pattern of paddle turns across the front of the stage, of which the only purpose seems to be showing off a beautiful spiral of fringe extending from her dress as she twirls. With Unwanted, Im left moved, inspired and chilled to the bone by this miraculous performance. Imagine, then, what could have been with a deeper approach to choreography.
The sense of separation from one another is also probably quite apt  but it does mean that Spencers story is overloaded with interludes where characters talk to the audience more than to each other. Sometimes its highly effective, as if we are a support group watching them try to untangle the roots of abuse and hopelessness that brought them before us. Early on, Mary talks about how every addict says something about how they cant believe it happened to them, and follows it with a warning to us: There is some version of you already living under an overpass.
On Tuesday, Trump spoke to reporters outside the White House and said, "It's a very scary time for young men in America when you can be guilty of something you may not be guilty of," The Washington Post reported. When asked if he had a message for women, the president responded, "women are doing great," according to pool reports. Hours later, he would mock Christine Blasey Ford, one of the women accusing Kavanaugh, in front of hundreds at a rally in Mississippi.
Damon said all men accused of sexual harassment and assault shouldnt be mixed together, because theres a difference between, you know, patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation, right? Both of those behaviors need to be confronted and eradicated without question, but they shouldnt be conflated, right?
You think once you are older (in your 60s), this type of abuse stops. It doesnt. A few years after my husband died, I dated a man my age.  We went out twice and on the second date he exposed himself to me with these words, Come on, don't you want this. Im sure the behavior  was something he had done all his life and continues to do.
Still, addiction specialists continue to warn about the chances for substance abuse. Dr. Aaron Weiner, of Linden Oaks Behavioral Health in Naperville, said the 2.5 ounces of pot allowed every two weeks under the program provides for frequent daily use, which is linked to addiction. He also warned that the marijuana sold in Illinois dispensaries contains up to about 90 percent THC, the element that makes users high, far more than traditional street pot.
If we can improve the health of those natural areas for the wildlife that lives here, including and especially turtles  which people are in love with and get excited about  then we can talk about all these complex issues that put pressure on our waterways, put pressure on our ecosystems, said Margaret Frisbie, director of the Friends of the Chicago River. The organization is collaborating with the Forest Preserve District of Cook County on the turtle transmitter project.
Metra saw increased demand for service early in the afternoon and added a train on the Milwaukee District North line to Fox Lake and a train on the Milwaukee District West line to Elburn, said spokesman Michael Gillis. On the BNSF line to Aurora, Metras busiest route, railroad workers were loading trains and sending them out as soon as they were full ahead of their scheduled departure times, Gillis said. Other lines are following regular schedules.
In August, the case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly, who presides in the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago, by the U.S. Court of Appeals, then moved to Chicago. U.S. District Judge Colin Bruce had previously presided over the case in Urbana. Bruces removal from Schocks case came about a week after he recused himself from an unrelated federal case he presided over. In that case, a woman accused Bruce of exchanging emails with a U.S. attorneys office employee during her trial proceedings.
Van Dykes lead attorney, Daniel Herbert, told Judge Vincent Gaughan that a police report had been filed about the incident, prompting Van Dyke to rush from the courthouse Thursday without informing his lawyers or the court. Herbert said high school classmates of Van Dykes daughter were asking which student was the officers daughter in order to attack her.
It really is a sad day for law enforcement, Herbert said. Weve all heard about the Ferguson effect. I can only imagine if police officers think they can never fire against someone who is acting the way Laquan McDonald had when theyre 12 feet away from him, what we are going to have is police officers are going to become security guards. They are not going to want to go out and confront someone.
On the way there, Smith disclosed to paramedics that three days before, on Aug. 6, her boyfriend poured gasoline over her and lit her on fire at her home in the 12200 block of South Morgan Street in the West Pullman neighborhood.
Before the attack, a man Mosley recognized as a regular client of Frazier drove up in a white car. Frazier said the man was a trick, told Mosley shed be right back, walked over to the car and got inside. They talked for a long time while parked on Adams at the east end of the block facing west, then drove west and turned left onto Kenton Avenue, Mosley said.
In fact, Finnegan gave Emanuel $200,000 in June. The firms other co-CEO, Sam Mencoff, gave Emanuel $305,000 at the same time. After the mayor announced he would not seek a third term, he told the Tribune he would be returning political contributions to his supporters, although some donors are unlikely to get back their full contributions since Emanuel already had spent some of the more than $10 million he had raised toward a third term.
Instead, Pritzker sought to deflect questions about the property reassessment by quickly switching to talk of the veterans home. At one point, he likened it to the contamination of water supplies in Flint, Mich. Several Michigan state officials last year were charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with a Legionnaires outbreak that killed a dozen people during the citys water crisis.
We come from many neighborhoods, many walks of life and many places throughout the world. But for all of us, this is our home. This is the city we love, the statement read. We have heard that message countless times in recent days and weeks in church basements, in community meetings and from residents in our neighborhoods. And while the jury has heard the case and reached their conclusion, our collective work is not done. The effort to drive lasting reform and rebuild bonds of trust between residents and police must carry on with vigor.
The mayor and Ickes traded threats to pull out of the deal, but Kelly blinked first. The superhighway was built and eventually renamed the Eisenhower Expressway. The tracks running down its median strip were linked to the Dearborn Street Subway, after it was finished in 1951. And thus did Chicago fulfill Mayor Harrisons dream of a long subway that would provide public transportation to outlying neighborhoods.
Amending the state constitution to permit a progressive income tax would open the way to sky-high tax rates. Why wont Pritzker be transparent and honest with all of us? How many more billions of dollars does he want to collect, and from whom? Because there just arent enough wealthy Illinoisans whose higher taxes could fix this states finances. Who else gets gouged?
The video told a different story. And it revealed some outrageous malfeasance. Questions about the lack of sound with the images led to the discovery that many officers were routinely disabling their vehicles cameras or audio  at least five other cameras had recorded video at the scene, all without sound. The Cook County states attorneys office acknowledged that video supplied by police in other criminal cases rarely included audio. Neither prosecutors nor police supervisors had bothered to find out why.
To the editor: When looking at the long lifespans that humans are living out, we can give our thanks to vaccines. Vaccines have saved millions of lives, yet are increasingly the target of social criticism. As a global community, the anti-vaccine movement is one of the most pressing issues we are experiencing culturally. The risks that come from not vaccinating are staggering, and illnesses that once plagued children, such as polio, measles and whooping cough, are having the chance to rise again in frequency. To see these illnesses occur again with decreasing use of vaccines would put our entire society at risk.
For jurors to find him guilty of second-degree murder, as they did, they had to credit Van Dykes explanation on the witness stand that he believed, at the moment he began firing, that McDonalds movements indicated he was about to attack him or fellow officers. At the same time, jurors had to find that this belief was unreasonable.
In the Kyle Rittenhouse case, legal nuance clashes with ideology. Since its inception, the case has served as a sort of national Rorschach test, with some seeing in the teenager a patriot who used his Second Amendment right to defend himself and others viewing him as a gun-wielding white boy who believed he could act with impunity.
A native of the village and a graduate of Rolling Meadows High School, Finnerty received a bachelors degree in criminal justice from the University of Dayton before he started his career with the Arlington Heights Police Department, Hayes said.
Were proud to say that our union bargaining team reached a tentative agreement with the board tonight, said Gerry Mestek, science teacher and union president, in a press release sent out by the Illinois Federation of Teachers. Weve bargained in good faith for months, often under challenging circumstances. But we believe the result is an agreement that respects and values all our members and benefits our students and community.
We are still debating the name. I know that it has been a hot topic for a lot of people. We are going to keep you in suspense for a little while longer, Trasatt said. We have some ideas. I floated them to a few people, but I am getting a lukewarm response. We might go back to the drawing board.
But Leon Lederman, he of the sweaters, untamed white hair and bottom quark, undertook to teach me about the labs work one afternoon. With stories tailored for the nonscientist, he proselytized for protons. Even after such personal attention, no one was likely to stop me in a hall of the graceful central lab at Fermi and ask me to explain the function of the gigantic particle accelerator outside, but I was much better equipped to inform readers of a general-circulation newspaper about scientific accomplishments.
Its got two incredibly talented, strong actors that allow you to really connect to them and get into their space. It will open a lot of dialogue after the show. We plan to always have talkbacks with the audience after these shows so they can ask questions, comment and speak to the director and actors.
The Frankfort Park Districts events include Witches Brew for ages 3 to 9 at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 12 at Founders Community Center, 140 Oak St. ($29/$24 for residents, including snacks and goodie bags); Halloween Haunting with giant inflatables, a deejay dance party, balloon artist, haunted hayrides, a movie room and crafts from 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 19 at Founders ($10 wristbands at the door, $1 less wearing a costume); and Howl-A-Woof, featuring dog costume contest, boneyard hunt and games, at 10 a.m. Oct. 20 at Bark Park at Commissioners Park, 22108 S. 80th Ave. (free).
Beverly and Morgan Park are one neighborhood for us as a community because they just come together and they have forever, Kuikman said. We are a neighborhood thats known for our history and for our spectacular architecture. We have every regional architectural style between the Victorian era and World War II in our neighborhood.
The festival is possible through the efforts of its organizing committee, its volunteers, donors, sponsors, the village and the Frankfort chamber of commerce, and even the folks who attend, because if no one came, there would not be a festival, he said. This is a huge recognition for all that effort. This is everybodys award. Its not my award.
We did not have that much money, so we started with the most crucial items. With the grant, we will be able to expand on that, and will do as much as we can, he said.
Ive seen kids working in the lab already, he said. Everybody is very excited. I saw kids working with little robots.  Theres also a section where they can do mathematics and they can write on the table, so they can work as a team. Its very social and I can see their minds expanding.
Agpawa supporters showed their faith in him Wednesday night, when he took the oath of office for the second time in eight days. It is unclear why there were two such ceremonies. Many wore white T-shirts with red letters bearing his name and the phrase, Markham votes matter. Several people publicly voiced their support.
In June, a Lake County Circuit Court judge issued a temporary restraining order barring Deerfield from enforcing the ban until the case could be considered. The order from Judge Luis Berrones came on the eve of a June 13 deadline for Deerfield residents to turn in any guns that fit the villages definition of assault weapons, remove them from the village or alter the weapons so they were no longer prohibited under the ordinance.
Who taught you baking? Erich was taught by dad, went to Dunwoody Baking School, (learned from) various bakers over the years and has done courses on and off. I am not a baker. I can't even make Jell-O. I am a cake decorator. I was trained at the original Wilton Cake Decorating School and then went to various specialized classes over the years. I too learned a lot from different bakers. Everyone assumes I can bake. (That) gives my brother and another employee  our pastry chef/decorator  a good laugh. That's OK. He can't decorate.
Roberts said she realized the event was an opportunity to connect not just with other victims of school shootings at wealthier suburban schools, but with inner city teens who regularly encounter gun violence in their neighborhoods and who have friends and family who have been shot and killed.
He explained that as many as 30 of the departments officers and supervisors have been trained in crowd control and will be prepared to deal with small, civil demonstrations, should any break out.
At 8 a.m. Thursday, students were evacuated from the building after a fire alarm sounded, according to an email from Finan. The fire alarm was set off after an electrical motor in the system burnt out, according to the email.
Kindness slips are given when the student does something kind for another person, Schaefer explained. Today we had a student turn in a necklace found on the ground and another student came in early to help a teacher set up some books.
Thank you for risking your life for people who wouldnt risk it for yours! I want you to know that I appreciate EVERYTHING you do! Also that there is only two HEROES in my life, My Dad and You! Thank You for keeping me, my family and my community safe! Please, Stay Safe!!! #Bluelivesmatter, Angel D. Contreras, 7, Zion, Illinois.
Plans have not been made yet for what will happen to the existing hospital tower or the remainder of the campus, Kresch said. He added that their focus had been on getting the expansion project going but will start looking at those questions in the coming months.
Ewing said he abstained because he saw the pros and cons of the changes. He said he had been uncomfortable with some of the raises that he said seemed excessive but felt some were deserved.
In comments echoing Eisenhower, he emphasized that wars are easy to begin but often hard to end, using Iraq as an example. His presentation was an informative, inspiring history lesson on the vital role of government in averting as well as handling crises, from the economy to war, and the great difficulty of instituting change in the public sector at any time.
The village of East Dundee will hold its annual shredding event from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Oct. 20 in the village parking lot behind the Caboose, 112 Railroad St.
In addition, Waubonsee offers some classes at other public locations outside of the Aurora campus. She said although those locations are not owned or operated by the college, the college must report any crime stats at the locations in its security and disclosure report.
Earlier this week, the Tribune reported that schools in Chicago were making plans to address possible reaction to a verdict, with at least one school planning to dismiss school if a verdict is issued while class is in session. Another school reportedly would plan to go into a lockdown drill protocol and move recess indoors if Van Dyke would be found not guilty.
Both gunmen are described as between 17 and 18 years old, standing between 5-foot-9 and 6 feet tall, with a thin build. The first suspect was wearing a black hooded jacket. The second was wearing a black Adidas hooded jacket with stripes down the sleeves.
These are parking meters that would be converted to something that delineates them from a normal parking meter and [people] can put money directly into the meter, Moroney said. Those meters can be given over to [those organizations] and that organization is in charge of collecting the money and seeing what is best to do with the money they collect. It could be as easy as the village drilling a little hole in the ground and the arts commission making it look fancy.
St. Timothy Community Church: 1600 W. 25th Ave.  October is Christian Education Emphasis Month at St. Timothys. The theme is Weve Come This Far by Faith: Moving into a Season of Renewal. The annual Revival will be Oct. 16-18. Guest speakers will be Rev. Dr. John Jackson at 7 p.m. Oct. 16; Rev. Lawrence Robertson at 6 p.m. Oct. 17, and Rev. R. E. Robinson at 7 p.m. Oct. 18. Family and Friends Day will be at 11 a.m. Oct. 28 and Hallelujah Night at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 31. Both events are open to the public. The church will welcome Rev. Dr. Rameen Jackson, the new pastor. Information: 219-077-0079.
Cox said she wanted to keep teaching but knew she would never be allowed to do so in a high school again. She will start a masters program in English at Purdue University Northwest in January, her lawyer said afterwards.
Washingtons case was transferred to Porter County, and he pleaded guilty to charges of battery and invasion of privacy, according to court documents. Washington was sentenced to six months in jail on both the misdemeanor charges, though the judge suspended the jail time and gave him a year of probation.
Theyre more sick, they have more problems, they cost us more money because theyre afraid of a hospital bill or a doctor bill. And its not right that in a nation that has so much that we give the poor and the sick so little, she said.
The League of Women Voters and The Greater Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce will sponsor a Candidate Forum for Porter County Council Districts No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Memorial Opera House, 104 Indiana Ave., Valparaiso. The format will allow candidates to present an opening statement, answer questions provided by the sponsors and then take questions from the audience. There also will be a Register To Vote table at the event. Tuesday is the deadline to register to vote in the November election. Early voting begins on Wednesday. Election day is Nov. 6. More information is at www.lwvporterco.org.
I think I wouldve come up on top of it right away and they didnt do that, she said, adding her message would have been, This is something that came up before we were there and were going to come up with a resolution and save the taxpayers money.
I came out with this two weeks ahead from what the board of trustees were about to do, he said. I feel like I gave people a lot of time to share concerns and for us to get organized in such a way that we can present to the board of trustees some valid rational reasons why it should be (delayed) until 2023 or why something else should happen.
This Columbus Day, I think we should all stop and ask ourselves why the arrival of Columbus, which is without a doubt the worst thing that happened to the indigenous peoples by triggering centuries of violence, disease, and genocide against them, is a national holiday. Nevermind the fact that Chris didn't discover jack. The existence of this continent had been known about for centuries by 1492.
I told the board during our meeting that serving at Concordia University Chicago has been the greatest honor of my life, Gard said. I truly love this school and the mission it has been given by our synod. The office of president must always be in service to the best interests of the university.
Mayor creates order for all new city employees to be vaccinated

news
Hundreds of Yemeni people thronged Thursday a public square to celebrate the 2nd heritage festival in the southern city of Aden.

The festival was held for the second year under the auspices of the Culture Ministry and other cultural organizations representing different provinces of the war-torn Arab country.

Sarah Rasheed, head of the media committee of the festival, told Xinhua that teams from different provinces, including those controlled by the Shiite Houthi group, participated in this year's festival.

"We try to keep our country unified in culture because politics has divided our regions and created hatred among the citizens. We want peace," Sarah said.

The teams representing several areas exhibited their traditional clothing and performed distinguished dances during the festival.

Aden, where Yemen's government in exile is temporarily based, has been suffering from lack of basic services, leading to public anger against the local authorities which have suspended most cultural activities since 2015.

The impoverished Arab country has been locked in a civil war since the Iranian-backed Shiite Houthi rebels overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces, including capital Sanaa, in 2014.

Saudi Arabia leads an Arab coalition that has intervened militarily in the Yemeni war in March 2015 to help the government to defeat the Houthi rebels.

The military conflict between the Houthi rebels and the government forces backed by the Saudi-led coalition has aggravated the suffering of the citizens in Yemen, which is regarded as the world's worst humanitarian crisis.








A mysterious piece of pottery shaped as a female head sends a smile from 7,300 years ago, as its host museum in East China's Anhui province starts a global naming bid for the ancient relic.



Ji Yong, curator of the Anhui Bengbu Museum in the city of Bengbu, said the statue was among 600 pieces of pottery unearthed from a New Stone Age site at Shuangdun village in Anhui in 1985.

Using Carbon 14 technology, the relics were dated back to 7,300 years ago.

However, it is still unknown what the statue was used for and why it was the only one of its kind, with the rest being utensils bearing inscriptions of various symbols believed to be origins of Chinese characters.

The statue, made with earth containing mica powder and quartz, is a flickering tattooed female face with marks emblazoned on her forehead that archaeologists have judged as a sun symbol.

Measuring 6.5 cm in height and width, the relic is the earliest example of such pottery ever found in China.

Zhang Dong, professor with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said international archaeological experts tended to link the inscriptions on the pottery items from Shuangdun to drawings in the Olmec civilization and hieroglyphic inscriptions in Mayan culture.

Ji said that following the global naming bid, the museum would hold an international symposium on the the item.

"I think it is the earliest and the most beautiful facial portrait, and suggests the humans had developed from emotional thinking to rational thinking," said Xu Xiaohong, a member of China Sculpture Society.

He suggested naming the statue "The Goddess of the Huaihe River," since the ruins were found on the bank of the Huaihe, which is located in the midway of China's two largest rivers, the Yangtze and Yellow rivers.

Shuangdun culture appears in the same period as the late Neolithic group known as the Yangshao, which originated from the middle reaches of the Yellow River, and Majiabang culture where archaeologists excavated 6,000-year-old rice grains in the lower reaches of the Yangtze in present-day Shanghai.

In the museum, the statue's caption says "pottery human head portrait with facial tattoos."

Wang Jihuai, a researcher with the academy, said although a consensus had not been reached, those involved with Shuangdun archeological research tend to believe that the civilization was a matriarchy with a sorceress dominating the community.

"The portrait might be the image of a sorceress," Wang said.

There are four-handled kettles and cooking devices unearthed in ruins, where massive animal bones were also discovered.

"The discovery of Shuangdun culture suggests that the Huaihe River Basin was one of the origins of Chinese civilization and Chinese characters," Wang said.

Since the museum launched the bid to name the smiling portrait through media outlets and Chinese social media in September, it has received considerable feedback.

"The portrait just has a head, and the decoration on the forehead suggests she was someone high ranking. Maybe we should name her Big Cheese," said Muhammad Firdaus Samijadi from Surinam.

Enzo Hilbert from France said the portrait was certainly a female figure. "She must have been a flamen. I'd like to name her Watermelon Girl or Druidess," he said.

Xun Yiran, a Bengbu local, said that since the portrait embodied the ancient culture of the Huaihe River, the name should carry its origin. "I suggest to name her the Mother of the Huaihe River," he said.
It's been 14 years since the discovery of graphene, and the world is still waiting for the "wonder material" to provide the groundbreaking innovations the initial headlines promised.







We were told our cars, computers and smartphones would be enhanced by graphene, and that the ultra-versatile form of carbon would usher in an era of wearable electronics and prevent droughts by enabling the filtering of salt from seawater.





One entrepreneur promised unlimited energy from below the Earth's surface via a graphene cable, and another suggested a graphene space elevator tethered at the equator.





In a world currently void of futuristic graphene-based gadgets, many are now questioning whether the material will live up to the hype. According to James Baker, chief executive of Graphene@Manchester, it will, and that moment may be just around the corner, he said.





"We are approaching a tipping point," said Baker. "In 12 to 18 months, you will start to see graphene products hit the marketplace at an ever-increasing pace."





Baker leads business-related development of graphene at the University of Manchester, where the National Graphene Institute is known as the heart of global graphene research.





"Having all of these capabilities in one building is what attracts people from everywhere," said Xiao Ping, a professor of materials science at the University of Manchester. "They come here and say this is the place for fundamental research. We can't compete with you, so we will collaborate with you."





Both Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei and the Aero Engine Corporation of China are conducting research at the NGI, a facility President Xi Jinping toured during his state visit to the United Kingdom in 2015.





The Chinese and British governments have since formed joint graphene working groups that make it possible for researchers to work together to create a future built on graphene.





Through these efforts, Baker said graphene and many of its associated products are close to overcoming two major obstacles faced by all emergent technologies. First, the "valley of death", in which a lack of funding kills off prototypes on their journey from lab to factory. And, second, the "trough of disillusionment", which lies between the initial hype around an innovation and its eventual real-world applications.





Looking beyond the hype





Grab a pencil and some sticky tape, and you're holding the lab equipment necessary to win a Nobel Prize.





In 2004, Konstantin Novoselov and Andre Geim, two physicists at the University of Manchester, discovered graphene by peeling apart layers of graphite using adhesive strips.





At just the width of an atom across, graphene is the thinnest material known to humans, and also the strongest.





In graphene, carbon atoms are arranged in a hexagonal lattice formation, similar to the pattern of chicken wire.





Strong covalent bonds between the atoms give graphene a tensile strength 325 times greater than steel, while maintaining flexibility and elasticity. Graphene is also an efficient conductor of heat and electricity, and is ultra-lightweight.





The discovery instigated a whirlwind of speculation into how the new material could change the world.





"But graphene is just a teenager," said Baker. "Right now, we are in the 'trough of disillusionment', and we are starting to climb out of it."





Part of the journey through a hype cycle requires an adjustment of expectations, said Khasha Ghaffarzadeh, a director at Cambridge consultancy IDTechEx who has been conducting market research into graphene since 2006.





"There is a difference between ideal graphene, the wonder material, and commercial graphene, which is more down-to-earth," said Ghaffarzadeh.





He explains that there are numerous varieties of graphenesheets, flakes, and powders made of multi-layered or few-layered graphene to name but a fewand most are currently used as an additive to improve the performance of other materials.





There is even debate over whether certain additives can be classed as graphene. Last year, China and the UK formed a graphene standardization working group aimed at ensuring quality control in the market.





On the nano level, single-layer graphene has fantastic properties. On a larger scale, some forms of graphene act like graphite, while others behave like an oxide.





This makes it challenging to convince industry to turn to graphene, where the material would compete with other additives that are cheaper and only marginally poorer performers.





But several products enhanced by graphene are already on the market in China. Beijing Carbon Century Technology produces an energy-saving graphene modifier for engine oil. Wuxi-based GMCC Electronic Technology makes a graphene-enhanced supercapacitor that is an alternative to electrochemical batteries and has a shorter charge time. Beijing-based Xiaomi and Guangzhou-based FiiO have incorporated graphene into headphone drivers. And other Chinese companies sell optical displays, LED light bulbs, and tires that are all enhanced with graphene.





Huawei has been tipped to release a smartphone with graphene-assisted batteries in the near future. The batteries are said to be able to charge fully in a matter of minutes and have an increased capacity.





Huawei has been one of the fastest adopters of graphene in its industry. The company's founder, Ren Zhengfei, is optimistic about the material's ability to dramatically change the electronics technology.





In 2016, Huawei developed a graphene-enhanced lithiumion battery for mobile network-base stations that remains functional at extreme temperatures.





Huawei is currently three years into a joint research program at the NGI that is exploring how graphene could be used in next-generation communications technologies.





"The University of Manchester has enormous expertise and the best facilities for working with the material," said Chen Lifang, a corporate senior vice-president at Huawei.





Elsewhere within the NGI's labyrinth of laboratories, Xiao Ping is leading a project for the Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Materials, or BIAM, which is a subsidiary of the Aero Engine Corporation of China.





The project he is working on is looking to accelerate the use of graphene in the aviation industry.





"Right now, we are focused on fundamental research," said Xiao. "And we have found that graphene can be used as an additive to increase the performance of several other materials."





Xiao's research has shown that graphene can prevent the growth of cracks in ceramics, which are used in internal combustion engines.





Bridging the valley





Baker said that for graphenebased products to move from concept to commercialization, they must overcome the "valley of death" problem.





Governments and universities will back initial research, and the private sector will invest in a product that can be replicated at scale. But there is a gap between those two development phases in which innovation is starved of funding.





To bridge this gap, the University of Manchester and the UK government have invested 60 million pounds ($78 million) into the Graphene Engineering and Innovation Center, otherwise known as GEIC (pronounced "geek"). The cavernous facility will switch on its machines later this year. It will allow companies to use the equipment to replicate prototypes by the dozen, proving to investors that inventions are scalable.





"Companies from China and elsewhere can come here with an idea for a product and develop it," said Baker. "It's a make-or-break space for some of the ideas we've come up with around graphene. If we do that successfully, we will increase the pace of graphene products into the commercial sphere."





And those Chinese companies have the support of a government that has doubled down on advanced materials.





China leads the way





China has emerged as a key territory for graphene production. In China's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) that started in 2016, new materials development is listed among the leading sectors of the national economy.





Around 3,000 Chinese companies are exploring uses for graphene, according to government statistics, while half of the world's graphene-related patents have been filed in China.





China now has close to 75 percent of the nominal global production capacity for graphene, according to IDTechEx, and the price of graphene has fallen from several thousand dollars a gram to around $75 a kilogram during the last decade. Production capacity is expanding, as foreign companies follow demand and establish operations in China.





UK-based advanced materials engineering company Versarien is currently building a graphene factory in Jinan, Shandong province.





"It's a brand-new science, and China is trying to take the lead, and is willing to invest heavily to create that lead," said Neill Ricketts, chief executive at Versarien.





Ghaffarzadeh predicts that, during the next five to 10 years, graphene will mostly be restricted to the additive market.





"But that is not to say that there won't eventually be those truly groundbreaking results down the line," he said. "Graphene really does have fantastic properties and its potential is huge."




Chinese mobile payment giant Alipay has quickly grown its United Kingdom presence in the lead-up to Chinese shoppers flocking to Britain for the ongoing Golden Week holiday.







During the past six months, the list of UK merchants that have signed up to accept Alipay payments grew by 60 percent. Chinese outbound travelers can now use their Alipay mobile app to make purchases in places including Harrods, Selfridges, Holland and Barrett, Heathrow Airport, Bicester Village, London Eye, and Sealife.





"We have a long waiting list of High Street brands and restaurant chains who want to use Alipay to access Chinese tourists' spend," said Roland Palmer, head of Alipay in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.





Alipay is one of China's biggest mobile payment platforms, with 700 million users in China. To make a purchase in the UK, Chinese travelers can use their Alipay mobile app to scan a barcode provided by a participating British merchant. They will be charged in renminbi while British retailers will receive payment in pounds. Alipay takes care of the logistics and currency exchange, and collects a commission.





Last year during Golden Week, Chinese tourists spent 29 million pounds ($38 million) in the UK, according to data from payments processor Worldpay.





In 2018, Chinese visitors remained the UK's biggest group of tax-free spenders, accounting for 26 percent of total tax-free sales in London alone between January and August.





Alipay's latest UK push closely follows China UnionPay, the Chinese bankcard association, strengthening its efforts to persuade UK merchants to accept payment from UnionPay cards, which are also possessed by most Chinese outbound travelers.





Zhu Yinan, chief legal officer and a partner at DealGlobe, a China cross-border specialist investment bank, said Alipay and UnionPay are predominantly serving the Chinese outbound community now, from a strategic perspective they plan further global expansion in the time to come.





"Therefore strengthening their footprint in the UK, where London will remain one of the most important global financial centers, is a logical first step," said Zhu.





Despite Alipay and UnionPay's international ambitions, their journeys to attract international customers are just beginning. Currently, less than two percent of UnionPay cards in use are issued outside China, and Alipay is also mostly used by Chinese travelers. But a trend for Chinese payment platforms to eye the UK market is emerging. China UnionPay has recently announced it is preparing to issue a UK card in partnership with an unnamed British-based bank to target British customers who are frequent visitors to China.




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.
China's Spring Festival holiday is usually called the busiest time of year for the nation's transportation system, given that it's the time when millions return to their hometowns.







Now that holiday seems to have some competition.





The railway bureau in Wuhan, a Central China hub for train travel, said trains passing through were estimated at their daily peak to carry over 940,000 people during the current National Day holiday, rivaling the peak of the Spring Festival rush.





The number of people traveling by high-speed rail during this year's holiday more than doubled the number of last year's National Day holiday, according to online travel services provider Ctrip.





Unlike the emphasis on family reunions at the end of the traditional calendar year, the current seven-day holiday is often seen as a time to get away for a short vacation.





The high-speed rail is very fast and comfortable, said Wang Changhe, a tourist at Wuhan Train Station. In recent years, we have been able to go to a different city for vacation, thanks to the high-speed train.





China's high-speed system has reached 25,000 kilometers in length, accounting for more than 60 percent of the world's total. The network expanded to Hong Kong last month, cutting a daylong trip to Beijing to around nine hours.





In Wuhan, travel agencies have noticed more inbound tourists from Hong Kong.





We are seeing the number of groups from Hong Kong doubling this autumn compared with last year, said Qi Haitao of Hubei Besttour Travel Corp. From late September to late November, many of our offerings for Hong Kong group tours have been booked up.





The growing ease of travel was clear to a man surnamed Yu, 80, who took the high-speed train with his wife for the first time during the National Day holiday this year to visit Yueyang in Hunan province.





It takes more than three hours on the bus, but just over one hour on the high-speed train, Yu said.




The newly elected government in Pakistan following the historic elections on July 25 has started to govern in a very unique and populist way.



Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led by its Chairman Imran Khan, ran the election campaign very aggressively against other political parties by claiming to want to introduce major change in the country.

People were drawn to the PTI's election strategy of raising slogans against the lavish lifestyles of previous governments in the past seven decades.

One of the slogans by Imran Khan was to cut the excesses of government as the country is now facing one of the worst financial crises in its history.

PTI won the elections and came into power by promising change. It now has kicked off an austerity campaign to tackle the financial crisis and to expose the lavish and luxurious lifestyles of previous governments.

The announcement to adopt the austerity drive by Prime Minister Imran Khan was widely welcomed by the people as it exhibited the right intention and direction of the government.

Part of the austerity campaign is also to explore and uncover all the ways to stop the leakage of revenues, which has already started showing positive results.

This first step has restored the people's confidence in their government. It has given them assurance that they had elected the right leaders and that the measures adopted in the austerity campaign would be fruitful in the longer run.

The incumbent government of Pakistan has a very different view of spending. They have planned to allocate money for the development of human resources, welfare projects and socio-economic improvements, which were embedded in their election manifesto.

The major decision taken under this austerity campaign was to sell the fleet of luxury cars used by various government departments and to end the practice of free meals, which were given to people in official meetings. Besides this, all the rest houses allocated for government officials in various cities will now be used for commercial purposes and will generate revenue for the state.

The government has also encouraged its top leaders to avoid residing in state residences allocated for the provincial heads such as the Chief Ministers and Governors of various provinces.

These measures adopted by this new government have paved the way for generating additional revenue, which will be used to tackle the mounting financial pressures and improve the fiscal health of the country.

The austerity moves have also pushed forward the measures of the government in tackling financial corruption which has damaged the fiscal and monetary policies of the country.

It has been estimated that the government may save around 20 percent from the annual 221 billion rupee (US$1.8 billion) administrative budget by effectively implementing the austerity campaign.

The strategy of saving taxpayer's money is indeed an encouraging step but the economy still needs more strict measures to manage a gap of more than US$12 billion. This sum of money is immediately required to support the financial structure of the country and to pay for imports.

The weak financial position of the country was a wake up call for the government to do more to fix the nation's monetary problems. The challenge for the government is to broaden the tax net and its ability to effectively collect taxes. Official data show that only 1.2 million people or less than 1 percent of total population filed income tax returns last year.

The new administration also urgently needs to boost foreign currency reserves which are plunging every month. The current account deficit is also worrying as it stands at 5 percent of GDP and the Pakistani rupee is also depreciating.

The austerity campaign has set an unprecedented example for all sectors of society and, if implemented well, will definitely improve the image and reputation of Pakistan on the world stage.

The author is a Pakistani journalist who graduated in China development studies from Renmin University of China. He is also a media fellow at the China South Asia and South East Asia press center.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
 Flash

The Dutch accusations on the alleged attempts of cyber attacks by Russian spies are another act of propaganda directed against Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

"We have repeatedly pointed out to the Dutch side, including through diplomatic channels, that the anti-Russian espionage campaign launched in the country, accompanied by targeted 'leaks' in the media about the alleged cyber attacks, causes serious damage to bilateral relations," a ministry statement said.

Earlier in the day, the Dutch Defense Ministry said that four Russian intelligence officers suspected of plotting cyber attacks were expelled from the Netherlands on April 13.

According to the Dutch side, the alleged cyber attacks were targeted at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) as well as data on the investigation into the MH17 plane crash in Ukraine in 2014.

The Foreign Ministry said it may "look strange" that the Netherlands waited almost six months to publish data on the expulsion of the Russian citizens.

Meanwhile, it coincides with London's accusations against Russia on cyber attacks targeting a number of organizations, including the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), it added.

"It is symptomatic that against the background of the paranoia intensified in the West over the past few years regarding 'all-powerful Russian cyber spies', who, according to the logic of Western politicians, live in 'backward Russia', every citizen of our country with a mobile device is perceived as a spy," the ministry said.

In addition, it noted that the Dutch side did not respond to the facts about the origin of the missile that hit the MH17 plane or to other relevant arguments voiced by the Russian Defense Ministry.

"Taking into account all these factors, we come to the conclusion about another directed propaganda campaign against our country," the ministry said.

A number of other countries and organizations also lashed out at alleged cyber attacks and espionage by Russian agents, including the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty organization.




 Flash

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Thursday that his country would keep a military presence in Syria until an election is held there.

"Whenever the Syrian people hold an election, we will leave Syria to its owners," he told a forum in Istanbul.

Turkey has troops based in northern Syria and the province of Idlib as a result of two military operations and a deal with Russia and Iran, another two key players in Syria.

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin urged all foreign forces, including Russian troops, to leave Syria once a relevant decision is made by the Syrian government.

Addressing the UN General Assembly in late September, Syrian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem demanded an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of foreign troops from Syria.

On Turkey's EU membership bid, which has been stalled for years, Erdogan signalled that his country may go to a referendum on the issue.

"We have been waiting for membership for decades and there is no result," he said. "If the EU situation continues to go in this direction, we might ask the 81 million people of this country how they wish to proceed with this."




 Flash

The Indian and Russian leadership will extensively delve into enhancing cooperation in energy and space sectors besides inking the much-talked about S-400 missile defence system deal worth 5 billion U.S. dollars.



Russian President Vladimir Putin is slated to arrive in the India capital city on Thursday evening for a two-day official visit, mainly to attend the 19th bilateral summit which began in the year 2000.

On Friday, after formal delegation talks the two sides are expected to sign a set of key pacts, including a new space cooperation mechanism which gathered momentum after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India would send a man to the moon by 2022.

Besides defence and space, energy is the next frontier for Indo-Russia cooperation, even as India is learnt to have vastly increased its investment in Russia's energy sector, and Russia emerging as a big gas supplier for India. In 2017 energy imports from Russia grew tenfold.

India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Videsh (International), which is tasked for oil and gas exploration overseas, is raising stakes in Russia's far east. To make it easier for business, Russia has now introduced an e-visa for visitors to that region.
 Flash

Former South Korean president Lee Myung-bak was sentenced Friday to 15 years in jail over a set of corruptions, including bribery and embezzlement.

The Seoul Central District Court sentenced Lee, who served as the country's head of state for five years from early 2008, to 15 years in prison, fining him 13 billion won (11.5 million U.S. dollars).

The sentencing session was live broadcast though the 76-year-old refused to appear at the courtroom.

Prosecutors had demanded a 20-year imprisonment, with the fine of 15 billion won (13.3 million U.S. dollars).

The ruling said Lee concealed his ownership of DAS, a lucrative auto parts maker, under the borrowed names from relatives and embezzled about 24.6 billion (21.8 million U.S. dollars) from the South Korean company.

Lee was convicted of collecting 5.9 billion won (5.2 million U.S. dollars) in bribes from Samsung Group, the country's biggest family-controlled conglomerate.

The bribe was offered to pay lawyer fees for the auto parts company, which faced a legal case in the United States, in return for Lee's presidential pardon to Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee.

The former president was found guilty of receiving millions of U.S. dollars from former intelligence agency chief, a former lawmaker and a businessman.

Lee was taken to a prison in March as he has long been dogged by allegations of corruptions.

The court said Lee had long embezzled tens of millions of U.S. dollars from DAS, which he owns under the borrowed names, noting that the wrongdoings, disclosed in the course of finding the company's effective owner, disappointed and gave distrust to the entire society and the people who supported Lee.

It noted that he denied all of his wrongdoings despite objective evidences and credible witnesses while shifting the blame on others implicating the corruptions.

Lee became yet another former South Korean president to be convicted of corruptions.

Former president Park Geun-hye, Lee's successor, was sentenced in August to 25 years in jail in the second trial, an extension of the 24-year imprisonment handed down in the first trial in April.

Park became the first South Korean leader to be impeached by the National Assembly in December 2016. She was officially removed from office in March the following year by the constitutional court over a corruption scandal.

Meanwhile, Shin Dong-bin, chairman of Lotte Group, the country's fifth-biggest conglomerate, was released Friday as an appeals court suspended his sentence.

The Seoul High Court sentenced Shin to two and a half years in jail with the suspension of execution for four years over his offer of kickback to the impeached Park.
Writing for thethis morning, Charlie Cook predicted "net gains for Democrats in governorships of between six and a dozen, and a pickup for Democrats of between 400 and 650 state legislative seats, more than the average midterm loss of 375 seats for the party in the White House. These state elections are the most under-reported story in politics, with control of chambers likely tipping from Republicans to Democrats."

Meanwhile at the Cook Political Report they changed gubernatorial ratings for 4 states-- all in the direction of the Democrat in the race. Illinois and Minnesota both go from Lean D to Likely D. Oklahoma goes from Likely R to Lean R and, shockingly, South Dakota from Likely R to Toss Up.

Cook's Jennifer Duffy wrote that "If political geography is helping Senate Republicans, it isnt doing much for the partys quest to hold their losses in gubernatorial contests to a minimum. There are a handful of races in very red states that have inched from the Likely or Solid Republican columns to Lean Republican or Toss Up. It is remarkable to see Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio and now South Dakota in the Toss Up column. Its difficult to remember a time when a Governors race in Oklahoma was competitive. That race is now in the Lean Republican column. As Republicans struggle with their own seats, the number of Democratic seats that they might be able to flip is dwindling. Only the open seat in Connecticut remains in play, although Democrats would argue that they have the upper hand. At its root, this race is turning into a proxy fight over who is more unpopular: outgoing Democratic Gov. Dan Malloy or President Trump. Of the three races in the Lean Democratic column, it would seem that Oregon where Gov. Kate Brown is seeking a full term is the most competitive. In a year in which the political landscape favors Democrats, the open seat in Colorado isnt as competitive as it could be. In Rhode Island, Gov. Gina Raimondo has seen her prospects improve over the past 10 days, making that a more difficult target for Republicans."

When looking at the Republican side of the ledger, there are three races that already appear to be Democratic pick ups. In Illinois, GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner is trailing Democratic billionaire J.B. Pritzker by anywhere from 16 to 22 points. This race has been in the Lean Democratic column, and while we are loathe to kick an incumbent when hes down, its hard to justify such a rating at this point. The race moves to the Likely Democratic column. The open seats in Michigan and New Mexico also lean in Democrats favor. There are now nine GOP-held seats in the Toss Up column: Govs. Kim Reynolds in Iowa and Scott Walker in Wisconsin, plus the open seats in Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Nevada, Ohio and South Dakota. The open seat in Oklahoma is now in the Lean Republican column. This means that Republicans go into the final month of the campaign with half of their 26 seats at risk.





...ILLINOIS





The race between GOP Gov. Bruce Rauner and entrepreneur J.B. Pritzker that was billed as the Battle of the Billionaires has fizzled. Its not that the candidates arent spending record sums of money, its simply that there doesnt seem to be a lot to see here. As a Republican in a very blue state who spent most of the first three years of his term locked in an ugly battle with House Speaker Mike Madigan and the Democratic-controlled state legislature over the budget, Rauner has been an underdog since the start of this race. He then faced an unexpectedly competitive primary that he eked out with a 51-percent victory.





Pritzker has been on a roll since the March primary and isnt content to sit on his lead. The campaign has launched a barrage of negative ads at Rauner. Rauner has hit back, but his attacks havent landed the same punch. Despite this, Pritzker is having the worst week of the campaign and it wont matter. An investigation by Cook County revealed that Pritzker defrauded the county by having all the toilets removed from his home in an effort to lower his property taxes. Illinois voters have a pretty high tolerance for scandal and this one doesnt appear to clear the bar. Rauner was also hit with another problem this week as questions have arisen as to whether his office sat on information about a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires Disease at a veterans home. Attention quickly shifted from missing toilets to fatalities. In other words, Rauner cant catch a break.





At this point in the race, there is no path to victory for Rauner. The contest is in the Likely Democrat column.





MINNESOTA:





Former Gov. Tim Pawlentys loss in the Republican primary was the defining event in this race as it went from a competitive target for Republicans to more of a long shot and finally to game over. The GOP nominee is Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson, the partys nominee in 2014. Despite that loss, Johnson doesnt appear to have learned anything and isnt raising the kind of money he needs or running the kind of n campaign it takes to be competitive here. As a result, the Republican Governors Association has canceled nearly all of the substantial television advertising effort it had planned.





The Democratic nominee is U.S. Rep. Tim Walz, who won a five-way primary with 47 percent of the vote. Walz, who spent much of his career as an educator and as an officer in the National Guard, was elected to the U.S. House in 2006, representing the 1st congressional district, which covers the southern part of the state from its border with South Dakota to its border with Wisconsin and includes Rochester and Mankato. It will be difficult to portray Walz as a liberal; he didnt support Nancy Pelosis bid for Democratic leader after the 2016 election and has amassed a relatively moderate voting record. Republicans had been arguing that a Walz administration will simply be a continuation of the Dayton administration. But, voters arent unhappy with Dayton, and at least stylistically; Walz and Dayton are very different. This race is now entirely uphill for Republicans and thus moves to the Likely Democratic column.





OKLAHOMA:





Democrats believe that they have a first-tier nominee in this open-seat contest in former state Attorney General Drew Edmondson, who won the June 26 primary with 61 percent of the vote. Edmondson served as the District Attorney in Muskogee County from 1983 through 1994 when he was elected Attorney General. He held that position until 2010 when he made an unsuccessful bid for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. He also made an unsuccessful for a U.S. House seat in 1992. Edmondson now practices law in Oklahoma City.





On the Republican side, a 10-way primary field meant that no candidate was able to get the 50 percent needed to avoid an August 28 run-off. Gateway Mortgage CEO Kevin Stitt won that contest with 55 percent to 45 percent for Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett. Outgoing GOP Gov. Mary Fallin is very unpopular and a majority of voters arent happy with the direction of the state. In Stitt, they opted for a conservative political outsider with a business background. But, the fact that Stitt is an outsider has made it difficult for him to rally the party behind him and generate enthusiasm. Its Stitts business that will provide Democrats with fodder in the general election. Gateway Mortgage has 1,200 employees and operates in 41 states, but it has a very mixed reputation; Business Insider described the company shady.





Whats been interesting about this race is how quiet its been since the late August run-off. The Democratic Governors Association and the Republican Governors Association have just gone on the air in recent days and Edmondson has yet to air a general election ad. This may mean it will be a very intense October. This is one state in which tax cuts resulted in cuts to education and subsequent teacher strikes. After eight years of a GOP Governor, voters might be ready for a change. Even Democrats who are heavily invested in the race arent sure its a toss up yet but believe it will be soon. The contest is in the Lean Republican column.





SOUTH DAKOTA:





A confluence of factors has made this race far more competitive than an open-seat contest in a solidly Republican state would suggest. Republicans nominated At-Large U.S. Rep. Kristi Noem. Given that she has won four statewide elections, Noem should be something of a slam dunk to be the states next Governor. But, Noem is a member of an unpopular majority in an even more unpopular Congress running in a year in which the political environment is less than favorable for her party. After winning the primary, Noems campaign seemed to take its foot off the gas, seemingly taking the race granted. It hasnt helped that Noem has spent much of her time in Washington tending to her congressional duties. GOP strategists say that now that the House is out of session until after the election, Noem is completely focused on the race and is aggressively campaigning.





The second set of factors is on the Democratic side. The Democrats nominee is 34-year-old state Senate Minority Leader Billie Sutton. Sutton, who became a paraplegic after injuries suffered in a rodeo accident, is a moderate with a strong personal narrative who an appealing presence on television. He is campaigning on a plan to end corruption in the state capital. According to Democratic strategists, as a member of Congress, voters dont see Noem as a credible messenger on an issue they see as a priority. Noem and Republicans are trying to morph Sutton into Hillary Clinton, who he supported in 2016, but his moderate record might make that a hard sell.





While Republicans acknowledge that the race is very close today, they believe that the overwhelmingly Republican nature of the state will carry Noem across the finish line. Democrats are cautiously optimistic that they might pull off the upset of the cycle. The contest is now in the Toss Up column.
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
Florida's gubernatorial race still looks good. There have been 14 polls that I know of since the primary. Andrew Gillum is ahead in every single one of them, although some have been within the statistical margin of error. The most recent Quinnipiac poll shows Gillum comfortably ahead 54-45% among likely voters, a nice increase for Gillum from Quinnipiac's September 4th poll that showed Andrew ahead 50-47%. Independents are favoring Gillum 56-40% and Hispanic voters back him 59-41%. Gillum's favorable/unfavorable numbers are 55-31% and DeSantis' are 42-47%. Gillum has something else working in his favor. A crackpot and despised fake president has been making the race about himself:

Although Gillum has outraised DeSantis among individuals-- $5,891,164 to $4,353,587, special interest PAC are pouring money into the DeSantis campaign and, in total, he has raised $17,751,315 to Gillum's $12,481,418. Outside groups are spending three times more on DeSantis than on Gillum. The Democratic Governors' Association has put $1 million into Gillum's race while the Republican Governor's Association has put $4 million into DeSantis'-- and has reserved $7.4 million in air time going forward. So far just one of the state's major newspapers, thehas endorsed and it was a powerful and compelling issue-oriented endorsement of Gillum

To understand why voters should choose Democrat Andrew Gillum over Republican Ron DeSantis for governor, compare the candidates positions on issues important to Florida.





Education: Gillum wants the state to spend more on traditional public schools, especially on teacher salaries. That would help Florida.





DeSantis wants to continue favoring charter schools, which educate just 10 percent of public school students. Because of Tallahassees decade-long trend of shorting traditional public schools, 19 counties this fall are asking voters to approve local tax increases to give teachers raises and make schools safer. Continued cuts to traditional public schools would hurt Florida.













Health care. Gillum wants the Legislature to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Doing so would give about 400,000 poor people access to health care, almost half of them in working families. It would also mean were no longer paying for expanded access in 33 other states without any benefit to ourselves. A 2015 Florida Senate study said expansion would boost the states economy. That would help Florida.













DeSantis opposes Medicaid expansion. And if Congress had repealed Obamacare, as he repeatedly voted to do, nearly two million Floridians would have lost health care coverage through the exchanges. Plus, insurance companies would have been able to deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions-- which includes most of us. DeSantis would bring the same attitude to the Governors Mansion. That would hurt Florida.





The environment. Gillum calls climate change an urgent threat. He understands the economic imperative we face as insurance companies prepare to build risk into premiums. Gillum would make the states response a priority. That would help Florida.













DeSantis says climate change is not a problem state government can address. He calls himself not a global warming person and says vaguely that the answer is federal funding. DeSantis would continue Gov. Rick Scotts head-in-the-sand denial. That would hurt Florida.





Public safety. Gillum supported the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Act and wants the state to pass common-sense gun laws. That would help Florida.





DeSantis said he would have vetoed the bill that raised the age for firearms sales to 21, banned bump stocks and imposed a three-day waiting period. He also favors letting people openly carry guns. That would hurt Florida.





Criminal justice reform. Gillum supports the constitutional amendment that would restore the rights of ex-felons (except those who committed murder or sexual assault) once they complete their sentence. Florida is the most restrictive state for ex-felons, a policy that reduces their earning potential. Groups across the political spectrum favor this change. This reform would help Florida.





DeSantis opposes the amendment. As governor and head of the clemency board, he could undercut the will of voters if the amendment passed. His resistance would hurt Florida.





In the Democratic and Republican primaries, we endorsed investor Jeff Greene and Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, so todays endorsement is a second choice. Gillum, however, is a much easier second choice, even after a hard look at one of his main ideas.





Gillum wants to raise the corporate income tax from 5.5 percent to 7.5 percent, which he says would raise $1 billion for education. He proposes a statewide starting teacher salary of $50,000.





Even if Gillum got what almost certainly will be a Republican-led Legislature to go along, the increase might not raise as much as he believes. And setting a statewide number could unfairly affect teachers in South Florida, where the cost of living is highest.





Still, Gillum recognizes that schools need more money. Thats a start. And he could stop some of the worst ideas the Legislature produces, if enough Democrats are elected to at least one chamber to uphold a veto.





Gillum said he would have blocked the bill that shifted money from traditional public schools to charter schools last year. He also would have blocked the bill that allowed sugar growers to pay less toward the Everglades cleanup.





And because Gillum understands local government from having spent 15 years on the Tallahassee City Commission, he says he would block further attempts to pre-empt cities and counties from enacting ordinances that serve their communities.





Not so long ago, Republicans believed government closest to the people works best. But after controlling state government for far too long, Tallahassee Republicans are prone to dictating community standards on a wide variety of things, including tree ordinances, ride-sharing services and beach access.





We need a course correction, one that shoves fewer state dictates down our throats.





During the primary, both candidates hit national themes, hoping to boost turnout. DeSantis touted his endorsement by President Trump. Gillum touted his belief that Trump should be impeached.





Now, however, Floridians want to hear about state issues.





Yet DeSantis continues to spend more time on Fox News defending Trump than he does with Florida news organizations and Floridians. He never responded to an interview request from the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board. And he cancelled a mid-September meeting with the Tampa Bay Times because, according to campaign staffers, he hadnt finalized his positions. He gave a Times reporter a 25-minute interview two days later, but his answers lacked depth.





DeSantis represented Northeast Florida in Congress from 2013 until he resigned this year to focus on the race for governor. During that time, he followed Tea Party positions. He voted to shut down the government because Congress hadnt defunded Obamacare. His Florida colleagues say he barely participated in the work of the states congressional delegation. He has done little for the state he seeks to lead.





Perhaps his thin record explains why, in his stump speech, DeSantis talks less about his plans for Florida, and more about Gillum, who he calls a socialist too liberal for our state.





Actually, Gillum led the effort to rebate $5.6 million to Tallahassees utility customers and to streamline permitting. That second item had been a priority of the citys business community.





We acknowledge that DeSantis has differed with his party on some issues. He criticized Putnam for his ties to the sugar industry and pledged to prioritize water quality. He also criticized Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri after he first failed to arrest Michael Drejka for shooting unarmed Markeis McGlockton during a dispute over a parking spot and claiming stand your ground.





We also acknowledge that Gillum has had to deal with an FBI investigation of Tallahassee government. The commission voted to spend $1.3 million renovating a building that would include a restaurant in which Gillums former campaign treasurer-- also a lobbyist-- was a partner. An ethics ruling said Gillum could vote. At this point, the investigation does not involve Gillum.





More problematic, though, are DeSantis appearances before certain right-wing groups and his failure to distance himself from hate-mongering supporters.





At one conference, DeSantis accepted co-billing with a speaker who accused Jews of having a paranoid-based fear of Nazis. He has failed to disavow backing from the Proud Boys, a white nationalist group whose founder is that anti-Semitic speaker. Then there was DeSantis warning to voters after the primary not to monkey this up by electing Gillum, who would be Floridas first African-American governor. DeSantis claimed the remark was not racist. His argument is not persuasive.





Florida is an increasingly diverse state in which Rick Scotts policies have left too many people behind and the state at risk.





Florida needs a new attitude in Tallahassee. Help Florida. Elect Andrew Gillum.
Say Thanks to Your Pastor -- It's National Clergy Appreciation Month -- But Know 75% of Pastors Report Severe Stress and the Majority Would Quit Tomorrow If They Could

Contact: Joni Sullivan Baker, 513-319-3231

CHICAGO, Oct. 5, 2018 /Christian Newswire/ -- When's the last time you said thank you to your pastors and let them know you are praying for them? October might be a good time, since it's National Clergy Appreciation Month. And if your pastor is like many, they are feeling stress.

"Parishioners should share the burden of praying for our pastors. Week after week, we come to receive that which God has poured into them. We have many expectations of them," said author and ordained evangelist Fredrick Ezeji-Okoye. "How often does the congregant stop to consider the pastor's needs? If the pastor is doing all the pouring, how is he being replenished? It is time to become the ones who pray for our pastors."

Most people understand being a pastor can be a heavy load, even if they don't know many details of what is involved.

According to some statistics*, 75 percent of pastors report severe stress and resulting anguish, worry, anger, depression and fear, so perhaps it's not surprising that 1500 pastors reportedly leave their ministries each month due to burnout, conflict or moral failure.

Of pastors surveyed, 57 percent would leave if they had somewhere else to go or another vocation they could do. Pastors also rank high in statistics on drug abuse, alcoholism and suicide, along with doctors and lawyers.

Even before he discovered these stunning statistics, Ezeji-Okoye had been called to minister to those who minister, led to create The Men of Faith Network, a fast-growing, diverse, multi-cultural network of pastors and leaders with a global outreach. The network provides pastors a support system and encouragement. Ezeji-Okoye also heads The Liberty Foundation LLC, a company that specializes in training church workers and consultants.

One day as he listened to his pastor praying for others he said he heard a still small voice asking, 'Who prays for the pastor?' which led to receiving God's assignment to create a ministry for pastors and an outreach for people to pray for pastors.

He further develops his ideas, providing encouragement and advice, in his recently-released book, WHO PRAYS FOR THE PASTOR? Aimed at pastors and parishioners, Ezeji-Okoye offers practical information aimed at supporting pastors.

For a free list of 12 Simple Tips for Showing Appreciation to Your Pastor, visit https://libertyfoundationllc.com/who-prays-for-the-pastor/

WHO PRAYS FOR THE PASTOR?, Carpenter's Son Publishing, is available from online retailers and selected book stores.

*Source: www.pastorburnout.com, quoting NY Times.
John Neely Kennedy, the junior senator from Louisiana, sounded like an imbecile yesterday when, as part of the Kavanaugh brouhaha, he referred to his Democratic colleagues by saying that "These are people-- Im not gonna name names-- but Im not sure they have a soul. I dont think their mother breast-fed them. I think they went right to raw meat."





Kennedy graduated from Vanderbilt magna cum laude in 1973, got a law degree from the University of Virginia and then another law degree with honors from Oxford. So he was certainly no dummy. Of course, back then he was a Democrat. In 1988 he became special counsel to then-Democratic Gov.Buddy Roemer and 1991 and he ran for Attorney General, unsuccessfully, as a Democrat that year. In 2004 he ran for an open U.S. Senator, seat, again as a Democrat. By that time he was flipping back and forth between parties anti was clear than he was basically an opportinist. He was elected state Treasurer in 1999-- as a Democrat-- was reelected as a Republican, then ran as a Democrat for the U.S. Senate and then ran for the U.S. Senate again. In 2007 he officially joined the GOP. He lost another Senate bid that year and finally won a Senate seat on his third try-- this time as a Republican-- in 2016, with the support of Trump and Pence (who he had endorsed in their election). Got that? Here's his early electoral history:













After reading the sham FBI report, he told reporters that that some revelations in it "really make me angry... I really wish you could see this. I really wish you could read this report." Tuesday was when he told Tucker Carlson that he doubted some Senate Democrats "have souls." He told his hometown paper that "She didn't convince me-- nor does the record-- that Brett Kavanaugh was involved."





Washington Post that most Senate Democrats aren't "searching for the truth. It's about winning. Just win, baby, win." I don't know if Kennedy drinks as much as Kavanaugh but... Wednesday Amy Wang reported in thethat most Senate Democrats aren't "searching for the truth. It's about winning. Just win, baby, win." I don't know if Kennedy drinks as much as Kavanaugh but...

By Wednesday afternoon, Kennedy was back in the Senate halls, hammering the Democrats on Fox News. Im not prejudging the FBI report, but its time for the senators to be senators, for women to women up, for men to man up, and lets vote, Kennedy said.

PoliticusUSA by Leo Vidal explains something that made its way into the report that flipped out Kennedy: So what was it that Kennedy read that caused him to tell reporters that some revelations in it "really make me angry... I really wish you could see this. I really wish you could read this report?" Perhaps this report fromby Leo Vidal explains something that made its way into the report that flipped out Kennedy: Senate Transcript Accuses Kavanaugh of Rape in the Back of a Car . No one seems to be talking about it either, but, wrote Vidal, "According to a 23-page transcript of an interview with Brett Kavanaugh conducted by a staffer with the Senate Judiciary Committee, the nominee allegedly raped a woman in the back of a car. This, along with several other sexual assault allegations, had not been reported in the media until yesterday. In all there were six sexual assault allegations against Kavanaugh that are discussed in the interview transcript. This is the woman who Kavanaugh raped in a letter to Kamala Harris:

Kavanaugh and a friend offered me a ride home. I dont know the other boys name. I was in his car to go home. His friend was behind me in the backseat. Kavanaugh kissed me forcefully. I told him I only wanted a ride home. Kavanaugh continued to grope me over my clothes, forcing his kisses on me and putting his hand under my sweater. No, I yelled at him.



The boy in the backseat reached around, putting his hand over my mouth and holding my arm to keep me in the car. I screamed into his hand. Kavanaugh continued his forcing himself on me. He pulled up my sweater and bra exposing my breasts, and reached into my panties, inserting his fingers into my vagina. My screams were silenced by the boy in the backseat covering my mouth and groping me as well.



Kavanaugh slapped me and told me to be quiet and forced me to perform oral sex on him. He climaxed in my mouth. They forced me to go into the backseat and took turns raping me several times each. They dropped me off two blocks from my home. No one will believe if you tell. Be a good girl, he told me.



According to the official transcript from the Senate staff, after hearing the above passage read to him, Kavanaugh responded by saying:

Nothing-- the whole thing is ridiculous. Nothing ever-- anything like that, nothing. I mean, thats-- the whole thing is just a crock, farce, wrong, didnt happen, not anything close.

Not upsetting to Susan Collins? Apparently not. She voted to shut down debate this morning-- as did Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ). Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) voted against cloture. Tomorrow afternoon, everybody could change their final votes when the actual confirmation roll call is scheduled.
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